Welcome to the Dark Side
by Red Witch
Summary: Evan begins his new life with the Hellions. He soon learns that the choices he's made and his new lifestyle comes with a price. The question is, is it too high? Completed Fic!
1. Another New Beginning

**X-Men Evolution characters? Don't own 'em. But you might see a few new creations of mine in this fic. This takes place not even a week after the final events of 'This Soap Opera Called Life'. It begins Evan's new life with the Hellions and some changes are gonna happen because of it.**

**Welcome to the Dark Side**

**Chapter 1: Another New Beginning**

Evan was grateful for the ride in the limo to the school. Especially since it had tinted window so no one could see in. Not that there were that many houses in Snow Valley to speak of. The colors of the fall leaves on the trees were surrounding the road from all sides. "Man you guys are really out in the middle of nowhere," He whistled.

Emma Frost sighed. "Well the purpose of that was to keep us safe from unwanted attention and prying eyes. I'm sad to say it didn't work quite the way we planned."

"It's not your fault," Evan told her. "Blame the Purists who attacked your school."

"I wish it was that simple," Emma sighed. "I'm afraid my charming sister told the good Reverend Stryker everything before she had her little breakdown."

"Oh," Evan said softly. "I didn't know…"

"These are troubled times," Emma said. "When you can't even trust your own family any more. Well, in my case I never could to begin with but still…"

"I know exactly what you mean," Evan's face hardened. "People say they're behind you all the way until you do something they don't approve of."

"Like your aunt?" Emma asked. "I don't need to read your mind to know how angry you are with her and the other X-Men. But listen to me, Evan you had no choice. Yes, you killed Spears but by doing so you saved a lot of mutant lives and you managed to give the FOH a very serious blow. In the long run, you did the right thing."

"I know that now," Evan said. "I used to doubt myself back in jail but…"

"Well you shouldn't," Emma said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I know exactly what you are going through. We've both had to make tough choices to survive. We did what we had to do. If the X-Men can't see that then they're bigger fools than I thought them to be."

"Well they did take it kind of hard when I turned my back on everything Xavier taught us," Evan grunted. "Even though it's mostly a lie, I still feel a little bad."

"Despite what the good Professor believes, evolution is not some beautiful perfume commercial you just wake up to," Emma scoffed. "It can be harsh and brutal."

"Like Darwin said, Survival of the Fittest?" Evan asked.

"Exactly," Emma said. "It isn't enough just to be a mutant, you have to **prove **yourself by surviving. Which you have done. So don't feel too disappointed about how you left the X-Men."

"Leaving **them**? Please!" Evan snarled. "That's the least of my worries." He softened. "There were other people I had to leave behind."

"You mean the Morlocks?"

"Yeah, they only got rid of me because they had no choice. I kind of see Callisto's point you know? They got enough trouble without me bringing them more."

"Evan those Morlocks are self pitying fools with too much pride they've got little right to have," Emma told him. "Oh look at us, we're so deformed and ugly and poor. The world above hates us so we should live in the sewers. HA! If those Morlocks had half the ambitions of some of my students have they would have taken over entire city blocks by now so that they could go above ground! That's what the Night Pack and the Bacchae did."

"The what?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know about them," Emma grinned. "Let's just say there are a lot more mutant groups around than you think. Well the Bacchae aren't all mutants but enough of them are. They operate out of San Francisco and Hawaii now. Originally the majority of them were from Los Angeles but they traveled to a more…hospitable climates."

"Does Xavier know about them?"

"I doubt it. The Bacchae figured out a way to cloak their mutant signatures. And the Night Pack is very discrete. If he does have any inkling about them he doesn't know the whole truth," She grinned. "They've become the Hellfire Club's…Allies in the field so to speak."

"Sounds interesting."

"You have no idea," Emma said. "We're here."

"Whoa…" Evan saw the huge campus and all the construction going around. "I'm impressed."

"It looked a lot better before the Purists attacked," Emma admitted. "But we've decided to rebuild. Make it bigger and better with more spaces for new students."

"So tell me more about how things work around here," Evan asked.

"Simple, my group the Hellions are the elite team," Emma explained. "They are the main strike force that goes on missions as well as teaches some of the other students in basic classes. There are four other smaller teams of mutants that mainly do research and defensive capabilities. In order they are the Beta, Gamma, Theta and Epsilon teams. Beta and Theta do mostly scientific research. Gamma works on weapons systems and defensive maneuvers. Most of Gamma team was wiped out in the attack. Epsilon focuses more on business, law and politics. We're thinking of adding a sixth team in the fall."

"How many students are here now?"

"Like I said, we did lose a few in the Purist attack, but thanks to the good Reverend Stryker's little misfire we were able to make up those numbers and then some," Emma explained as the car parked. "Including yourself we now have over one hundred and fifty eight students."

"That many?" Evan's jaw dropped. "I thought Xavier had a lot."

"We've been working on this school for a lot longer than Xavier has," Emma grinned. "And the Hellfire Club has many contacts and resources."

Evan cautiously got out of the limo, making sure his spikes didn't scratch the paint job. "The driver will take your luggage to your room," Emma said. "I'll have someone show you it later. Right now we have an assembly to catch. Then I'll introduce you to your teammates."

"Okay," Evan shrugged. He then noticed most of the other students were wearing red and white uniforms. "I…uh, just hope you don't mind me breaking the dress code." He was bare chested due to the spikes and armor and wearing jeans with holes in them. There were holes in the jeans where his spikes protruded.

"I'm sure we can bend the rules for now," Emma made a wry grin. "Just follow the other students and I will see you after the assembly."

"Okay," Evan nodded and did so. He made his way to the auditorium. Even though he was among mutants he still received a lot of stares. He found a seat near the back next to a blonde haired 16-year-old boy. He was wearing a red and white school uniform.

"Excuse me, but aren't you Evan Daniels?" The blonde haired boy asked.

"Uh yeah," Evan said.

"Wow! I mean this is amazing," The boy said. "My name's Doug Ramsey. I've been following your case. You really did a lot for us. I mean, I don't think any other mutant has done what you did. You're famous!"

"You don't say?" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Doug nodded. "I mean after the Purists attacked things were really bad here. I lost a lot of friends in the attack. But when we heard the verdict everybody was ecstatic! Somebody finally stood up to those people and won one for us, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Evan grinned slightly. "So what's your power?"

"It's kind of lame," Doug scratched his head. "I can translate stuff. No matter what language it is, I can read it. Any code you make, I can crack it. That's why they call me Cypher."

"Wait, you can understand anything anyone has ever written?" Evan asked.

"I can even figure out Shakespeare," Doug grinned. "But since it's not that good of a power I'm on the Beta team. Doing research and stuff."

"I dunno," Evan said. "I think I could have used a power like that once or twice."

"Word around school is you're gonna be in the Hellions," Doug said. "That means you're gonna be one of the top guys around here. Man you are so lucky."

"Let me guess, the Hellions are at the top of the food chain around here?" Evan asked.

"Yeah but they've got a right to that rep," Doug said. "They took out those Purists even after they were infected with the nanites. They get to go on missions and everything. Man, what I wouldn't give to be like them."

"Careful what you wish for," Evan muttered.

Emma Frost made her way to the podium. Soon everyone was silenced. "Greetings Students," She spoke. "This is a new beginning, not just the start of another semester, but a new chance for us to unite as mutants. A new commitment to the future. Many of you have lost friends and teachers due to the Purist attack. Others have just gained their abilities recently and are new to being mutants. Others have come from other places trying to find acceptance. But we all have one thing in common; we have survived some of the worst things mankind is capable of. We are stronger for it."

"There will be a lot of changes in this semester. First of all, in addition to your mandatory self-defense courses, it will also be expected of you to learn how to use your abilities and skills in an **offensive **way."

"Like forgetting to shower?" Bevatron snickered quietly to his fellow Hellions in the front row. "Looks like some of them already have learned that."

"Oh man look at some of the freaks here," Beef snorted. "Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel."

"I know," Roulette filed her nails. "I remember a time when mutants with obvious mutations wouldn't even dare come near this place!"

"It's the poor ones I don't care for," Monet sniffed.

"You watch your tongue!" Catseye hissed. "I no like how you talk like that and Miss Frost no like it either!"

"Aww, what's wrong with Teacher's Pet?" Beef snorted. "Got her ball of yarn twisted?"

"The only reason we tolerate you, Catseye is that Ms. Frost is your legal guardian," Monet looked at her. "She should have left you back in that alley where you belong!"

"And you would know about alleys wouldn't you, Monet?" Tarot glared at her. "Seeing how you spend all your time in the gutter."

"I swear if we were not in assembly right now…" Monet hissed.

_IF YOU WEREN'T I WOULD SURELY MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF YOU! _An angry telepathic message from Emma hit their minds. _Do you have any idea how **rude **it is to interrupt my speech? I will speak with you later. After the assembly!_

Emma had paused in her speech to send the message. She smiled for the crowd and continued. "Also some of you will be reassigned to other squadrons or have your position in your squadron changed. This restructuring is not a punishment. It is merely a place where we feel your talents will be more vital. Now let's get down to brass tacks. After your Team Advisor calls your name and codename you will join your squad and leave immediately for debriefing. I will start first with my Hellions. In no particular order…Evan Daniels, Spyke."

"That's my cue," Evan got up to go up. All eyes were on him. He could hear their comments.

"Wow! That's Evan Daniels!"

"He's here? No way!"

"Man he looks even cooler in person!"

"I can't believe they let him in here!"

"Who cares what he looks like! Did you hear what he did to Guy Spears and the FOH?"

"Trashed an entire FOH building! Nearly killed 'em all!"

"I thought he was an X-Man?" Beef blinked.

"Guess not," Catseye grinned. "You were saying something about lower evolved mutants?"

"It makes sense if you think about it," Empath nodded. "We could use some new muscle."

"Hey!" Beef snapped.

"She just called our names stupid!" Monet hissed. "Come on!" Monet, Bevatron, Beef, Empath, Roulette, Tarot, Jetstream and Catseye went forward.

"James Proudstar, Warpath and last…Douglas Ramsey, Cypher," Emma finished her introductions.

"No freaking way!" Bevatron's jaw dropped.

"He was on the Beta team for crying out loud!" Beef gasped. "Why would she put one of those **losers** on our team?"

"Maybe he figured he couldn't do any worse than you," James Proudstar glared at him as he walked by.

"Wow…" Doug walked up to Evan. "I can't believe it!"

"Welcome to the team, Cypher!" Evan grabbed his hand and shook it. 

"Well isn't this interesting," Empath thought aloud.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe it!" Doug said as they entered what seemed to be the common room of the Hellions Dorm. "We're here! We're really here!"

"So we're on a team of mutants, big whoop," James grunted.

"Hey give the kid a break," Evan said. "He's excited."

"Call me when the action starts, then I'll be excited," James told him.

"Look um, I didn't really know your brother and all but I…" Evan began.

"Save it," James growled. "I don't want your pity. All I want is a clear shot at the X-Men. Just one shot is all I need."

"Ah, it seems our new team mates have arrived," Empath said. There was a large buffet in the middle of the room. "Help yourselves to some punch."

Tarot and Catseye were there as well. "Welcome to the Hellions," Catseye said. "Especially you Spyke!"

"We all heard what **really** happened with Spears," Empath told him. "Nice work."

"Hey, I did what had to be done," Evan shrugged.

"But to go to jail…" Catseye said. "You are very brave."

"What? What'd he do?" James asked.

"Where have you been? In a **cave?**" Tarot asked. "This is Evan Daniels. **The** Evan Daniels? The mutant that killed Guy Spears and got away with it! How could you **not** know who he is?"

"I never watched the news that much okay?" James snapped. "Wait, wasn't Spears the one who was poisoning mutants?"

"Yeah and I stopped him," Evan told him.

"Not only that, he took down the leader of the FOH with him," Empath informed James. "Remember Creed? He had a nervous breakdown that was shown on national television."

"Oh really?" James looked at Evan as if appraising him. "Maybe you ain't all talk after all."

"Got that right," Evan said glaring back.

"Gentlemen please! Today is a day of celebration," Empath said.

"Come on guys give the macho act a rest will ya?" Tarot asked.

"Yeah well," James shrugged. "There's another time and place to test your rep. I guess I gotta give you props for taking down two slime balls like that. So where is the rest of the team?"

"Oh Ms. Frost is chewing them out about their attitudes," Tarot told them. "I gotta warn you, some mutants around here are not as accepting of obvious mutations as they should be."

"Miss Frost is really good," Catseye told Evan. "She not like that. My name is Sharon. People call me Catseye."

"She's a sort of were-cat," Empath explained. "For a time she thought she was a cat, until Ms. Frost found her."

"For real?" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Emma said as she walked in with the other Hellions. "Well now that everyone's here we can get to know each other better."

"Wish I knew about this before," Monet grunted. "I am leader of the team!"

"Some leader," Empath snorted. "When push came to shove you folded faster than one of those origami paper makers."

"And you think you could do better?" Monet snarled.

"He couldn't do worse," Bevatron glared at her. "Even I could do better than you! I was infected too with those nanites but at least I went down fighting."

"Oh you were fighting all right," Monet snapped. "Fighting the urge to throw up!"

"As you can see we're one big happy family around here. Which is why I've felt the need to bolster our ranks within the Hellions. So meet your new classmates," Emma said.

"Proudstar?" Jetstream asked pointing to James. "Isn't he one of the X-Men?"

"That was my brother," James growled. "And he got killed because of them."

"Interesting," Empath raised an eyebrow. "I have a question. We all recognize Spyke and recognize his contribution to the Hellions will be…valuable. But why is someone from the Beta team being transferred here?"

"Cypher has extraordinary intelligence skills which could benefit this team greatly," Emma told them.

"Makes sense if you think about it," Evan spoke up. "Even the Misfits have a computer expert, and he's human. From what I've heard, Cypher can process twice the information Arcade can."

"Oh listen to the expert," Bevatron snickered.

"Compared to you I am pretty boy," Evan glared at him.

"Compared to **you** he is pretty," Beef scoffed.

"I wouldn't rag about anybody's looks if I were you," Evan glared at Beef. "You look like you're one doughnut away from being mistaken as the Blob's body double!"

"WHAT?" Beef roared.

"Well you must admit that does sound rather accurate," Tarot grinned. "You have been putting on weight recently."

"I'd be careful if I were you, making cracks like that," Monet said.

"Yeah mutants like you should know your place," Roulette said.

"He does know his place. He's your new leader," Emma said simply.

Monet's eyes narrowed in anger. "WHAT?"

"Hmm," Empath grinned. "Things are just starting to get interesting around here."


	2. Settling In

**Settling In**

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Monet shouted. "YOU'RE GIVING LEADERSHIP OF THE HELLIONS TO THIS SEWER FREAK?"

"AT LEAST I AIN'T A CONTROL FREAK!" Evan got in her face.

"NO YOU'RE A FREAK PERIOD!" Monet used her super strength and shoved Evan across the room. She grabbed a chair and threw it at him. "YOU'LL TAKE CHARGE OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Evan dodged it and shot out some spikes at her. "Oh you wanna play it like that? Bring it on!"

"**ENOUGH!**" Emma shouted. "I brought Spyke in for his experience and skills. I'm sorry Monet, but quite honestly you've failed nearly every task I've sent you to do. And your performance in the Purist attack was…less than satisfactory."

"I did everything I could and you know it!" Monet snarled. "But if you want to make us the laughingstock of the campus by letting this **Morlock** be in charge you've got to be out of your mind!"

"What's wrong with the Morlocks?" Evan growled.

"You've got a few hours?" Bevatron quipped. "Besides the fact that they're stinking weak…"

In an instant Bevatron was pinned to the wall by Evan's spykes. Before he could react Evan pointed a spike at this throat. "You were **saying?**" Evan's eyes narrowed.

"Frost!" Bevatron gasped.

"Don't look at me," Emma folded her arms. "Your mouth got you into this mess. Depend on your mouth getting out of it."

"Some help **you **are," Monet sneered.

"Hey! I was defending you!" Bevatron snapped.

"No you weren't," Tarot grinned.

"Shut up, witch!" Bevatron snarled.

"Excuse me?" Evan moved his spike closer to Bevatron. "That's no way to talk to a fellow teammate and lady."

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Bevatron whimpered. "Now get me down!"

"That's as close as you are ever gonna get to a real apology," Tarot explained to Evan as he backed away.

"Is there always this much **drama** around here?" James asked Empath.

"Well, yes," Empath shrugged.

"Somebody show me where my room is?" James grunted. "As much as I'd love to see this jerk skinned alive Igotta unpack my stuff."

"Uh, Catseye show you," Catseye offered. Both went upstairs.

"Well," Empath clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Shall we have cake?"

"I've lost my appetite," Monet sneered and stormed out of the room.

"So have I!" Beef grunted after getting Bevatron down.

"My god it's a miracle," Tarot quipped.

Most of the Hellions filed out, leaving Emma, Empath, Tarot, Evan and Doug behind. "Don't take it too personally," Empath said to the others. "They're on a waiting list for a personality transplant."

"Poor, poor Monet. She's so upset," Tarot mused. "I think I'll go watch her squirm." She followed them.

"Well that went better than I expected," Emma sighed.

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A few minutes later Evan was in his new room unpacking. "Don't take it too hard," Doug told him. "Monet's always been a bit stuck up. And the others…Well…"

"Yeah I got the picture," Evan groaned. "And you **wanted** to be part of this team?"

"Oh I don't know," Empath walked in. "Not all of us are **that **bad. I take it you're still recovering from our little welcoming party?"

"Some welcome to the team," Evan groaned.

"Yes well Cyper is right," Empath said. "She's needed a lesson for some time. So aside from Monet's hissy fit, how are you doing?"

"I've been in a lot worse," Evan grinned. "If you think Monet has a temper, you should try taking the last donut away from Rogue. Or spying on Jean Grey when she's trying to get ready for a date. Or **any** of the X-Girls when they're ticked off."

"Sounds like you've seen more combat than any of us," Empath smirked. "Especially when it comes to women."

"You could say I know a thing or two," Evan smirked.

"I'll bet," Empath grinned. "I've heard…Rumors. Is it true what they say…About Morlock Girls?"

"What exactly have you heard?" Evan cocked an eyebrow.

"That they are not as…cold as they appear to be," Empath asked. "Are they?"

"What do you mean?" Doug asked innocently. Then he realized what he meant. "Oh…**Oh!**"

"So? Are they?" Empath asked.

"Well…" Evan thought a minute. "Let's just say down in the tunnels…It can get cold at night, unless you know how to make friends."

"Do tell," Empath wanted to hear details.

"Maybe later," Evan waved.

"I understand," Empath nodded. "Doug do you mind if I talk to Evan alone for a bit?"

"No I don't mind," Doug nodded. "See you later, Evan." He went out of the room.

Empath closed the door. "I just thought I'd get you up to speed. Warn you about a few things. If you're going to be leading the Hellions, you'd better be prepared."

"That's a funny thing to say. From what I've heard, I thought **you** wanted to be leader?" Evan asked.

"Are you kidding? Ever hear of the term Poisoned Chalice?" Empath said.

"Not really," Evan folded his arms.

"Quite simply it means that leadership has just as many pitfalls as it does perks," Empath said. "And a lot of members of this team will be more than happy to shove you over the edge. To be honest, I only pretended to want to lead because it drove Monet crazy. Why do you think Frost didn't chose me as leader instead of going to an outsider? I'm perfectly happy to have someone else call the shots thank you very much. It keeps the knives out of my back."

"Thanks for the warning," Evan snorted.

"Well you need someone to get your back," Empath shrugged. "Granted, Ramsey is a decent sort of kid. And Catseye is quite handy; being Frost's adopted daughter. But something tells me you've kind of gone off of cat girls. Am I right?"

Evan looked at Empath. "What do you mean by that?"

"Look, it's common knowledge that you had some…relationships with a certain pair of feline family members," Empath said. "What **isn't **common knowledge is the fallout of another…liaison if you get my drift. I only know because Frost trusted me with the information."

"What are you getting at?"

"The Massachusetts Academy is not just a place to train mutants to use their powers," Empath told him. "It's a place where the future leaders of the world, the elite learn to take power and control it. And the campus life reflects it. In other words, any kind of scandal would be disastrous. And more than a few people would only be too happy to smash your reputation in order to enhance their own."

"In other words trust no one except you?" Evan gave him a skeptical look.

"Well I think it's safe to say you can trust Doug," Empath said. "Being an empath gives me an edge. And Ms. Frost has a much better edge. But so does Monet. Ms. Frost did put shields on you, right?"

"Yeah," Evan said.

"Good," Empath nodded. "Let me know if they slip in any way. You can't be too careful around Monet."

"You mean she might…?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," Empath snorted. "Watch your back, because neither I nor Frost will be able to all the time." He left the room.

_Man, I had no idea it was gonna be like this, _Evan thought to himself as he sat on his bed. _I may have had my problems with the X-Men, but at least they welcomed me with open arms. Even the Brotherhood treated their own guys better than the Hellions do. Well besides Magneto and Mystique anyway. This is gonna be hard, leading a group of people who hate my guts. But I've got no other choice…_

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"I can't **believe** this!" Monet slammed her fist against a table, breaking it instantly. "It's bad enough Frost **replaced** me, but to replace **me** with…That **gutter** **trash!**"

The other Hellions were in a lounge café drinking coffee. No other students were there so they had the place to themselves. "Yes and by tomorrow you'll be the laughing stock of the school," Tarot sneered.

"Oh you are just loving this aren't you?" Monet glared at her.

"In a word, **absolutely!**" Tarot glared back. "Face it, with Spyke in our corner we've got serious firepower! Maybe now we can actually **win** a battle with the X-Men for a change!"

"Fat chance with Cypher on our team," Beef grunted. "Not only do we get that freak, we get a loser from the Beta team as well!"

"Hey, at least Ramsey **looks** human, which is more than what I can say for Spyke!" Roulette snapped.

"And comes from a decent background. What do you think about Warpath?" Jetstream asked.

"Too soon to tell for me," Bevatron shrugged. "Seems all right. Got a bit of a chip on his shoulder but don't we all?"

"Trash," Beef snorted. "We don't need any new muscle!"

"Well, since our old muscle is woefully inadequate," Roulette smirked. "I think it might be a nice change of pace."

"Hey! It's one thing if M here gets replaced," Beef made a motion with his thumb at Monet. "But if Frost decides to get new muscle, or maybe new guys…How long you think the rest of us will last?"

"Oh this is just too much," Tarot snickered. "You are all so paranoid it's hilarious. All Frost is doing is making our team stronger and you're all worried that you'll need to be checking the want ads."

"All right what's **your** problem?" Bevatron asked. "Why are **you** so happy about this? It's pretty obvious why the Cat is happy he's on the team. And Empath is competing for 'Suck Up of the Year'. So what do you have to be so happy about? Unless you're suddenly into freaks…"

"If that was true I'd have asked you for a date," Tarot sneered. "Simple, Monet's a lousy leader and **anybody **has got to be better than her!"

"She has a point," Roulette shrugged. "I am getting sick of being upstaged by the X-Morons and the Misfit Freaks."

"Don't get too comfortable with Spyke!" Monet snarled. "This is only a temporary setback. I've only just begun to fight! We'll see who has the last laugh!"

"Well this is some choice," Beef grunted. "I hate to say this but whoever wins **we** **lose!**"

"What do you mean by that?" Monet whirled on him.

"What he means is that while Daniels may be…Well, an evolutionary misstep to put it bluntly," Jetstream shrugged. "He seems to get results, which is more than we can say for **you**."

"He's right," Roulette said. "Face it girlfriend, if you need to be replaced by someone like **Daniels**…"

"I get the message," Monet's eyes narrowed. "But after tomorrow so will he. If Spyke thinks he can just waltz in here and take what's mine…He's **dead **wrong. With the emphasis on **dead**!"


	3. The Gauntlet

**The Gauntlet**

"And I thought the X-Men uniforms were lame," Evan groaned as he fiddled with his tie. He had to wear a modified uniform. Black dress pants that had already had holes in the knees due to Evan's spikes, A white sleeveless shirt and a red tie and black dress shoes. "I feel like a total geek in this!"

"Hey at least you don't have to wear the jacket," Doug pointed out as they went out the door of the Hellion's dorm to their first class of the day.

"The jacket doesn't fit," Evan groaned. "Too many spikes."

"Don't worry about it," Empath walked up to them. "To tell the truth I'm not exactly crazy about the uniform myself. Consider yourself lucky you have an excuse for a more relaxed dress code."

"Any more relaxed and I'm gonna need a straightjacket," Evan fidgeted with his tie again. He saw dozens more students walking by. "Man I can't get over how many students there are here!"

"Yeah, since Stryker's attack we got a lot of new people," Doug said.

"But how do you guys do it?" Evan asked. "I mean, Professor X has Cerebro and it can pinpoint nearly every mutant on the planet. How come we have more people than he does? It doesn't make sense."

"Well it does if you take into account that Ms. Frost and the other members of the Hellfire Club have been looking for and recruiting students a lot longer than Xavier has," Empath pointed out. "And they are more active in searching for and recruiting mutants than he is."

"The Hellfire Club, they're like some kind of company that's backing this school right?" Evan asked.

"More or less," Empath grinned. "The American chapter has been a major secret power since this country began over two hundred years ago. The original Hellfire club is far older. They have been the backers behind some of the world's greatest businessmen and companies and advisors and backers to Presidents and royalty. Only recently have mutants taken over this group."

"Nine years ago Ms. Frost and the others discovered that the Hellfire Club was planning to destroy and enslave mutantkind," Doug added. "They took over the club and expelled the old members so that they could protect mutants. Give our people a future."

"If they're so powerful how come a nut like Stryker got by them?" Evan asked.

"Even the Hellfire Club isn't infallible I'm afraid," Empath sighed. "Truth is I think they've gotten careless. We ought to thank Stryker for reminding us of how vulnerable we are. That and creating more recruits for us."

"But I still don't get how the Professor didn't know anything about this," Evan asked as they walked into the classroom.

Empath snorted. "You're kidding right? Of course he knew about the Hellfire Club. He was asked to be a ranking member and he turned it down."

"**What?**" Evan gasped and stood still.

"Oh that's right," Empath said. "I keep forgetting that Xavier has a nasty habit of keeping important secrets from his staff. He would never have told you that he considered the Hellfire Club beneath him and he didn't want to take orders from anyone. They even tried to warn him about Trask and his Sentinels long before the first one was even built but Xavier refused to listen. If he had only swallowed his pride, well…" Empath shrugged. "That's all speculation now isn't it?"

The news staggered Evan. "He knew about this school, Trask, the Sentinel…Everything?"

"That does sound pretty cold," Doug frowned. "I mean I know that the guys higher up have to keep some secrets but…Geeze."

"I should have known," Evan said bitterly as he took his seat in homeroom. "He knew about Magneto and Mystique too and never told us. Like the fact that Mystique was our principal would have been nice to know! And the experiments that were done on Kurt…"

"Experiments?" Doug asked.

"Kurt…Nightcrawler was experimented on by Magneto when he was a baby," Evan said. "When the Professor found out he didn't say anything to him about it!"

"How did you find out?" Doug asked.

"Same way as Kurt did," Evan grunted. "Toad found out about it and told us all."

"Wow," Doug blinked. "Well I know if someone had done something to me I'd wanna know about it."

"Face it, Xavier isn't the saint you think he is," Empath warned.

Evan felt a flash of anger inside. "Tell me something I don't know! But why would he keep this information from us? It doesn't make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense," Empath said. "He didn't want to lose any of his followers. Or have them think for themselves."

"Yeah well it didn't work on me!" Evan said hotly.

"Hey Evan chill," Doug held up his hands. "We're on your side."

"Sorry man," Evan sighed, calming down. "It's pretty much still a sore subject."

"Well who wouldn't be sore if you were stabbed in the back by ungrateful jerks?" Tarot came with Catseye and sat down at her desk. "Which reminds me you'd better watch out. Monet and the others aren't happy."

"Since when are they **ever** happy?" Empath smirked. "Speak of the devils…"

Monet and the other Hellions sauntered into homeroom. They sat at their seats, not even acknowledging Evan and the others. "Oh the silent treatment," Empath mocked. "How mature."

"Trust me, that's a good thing," Catseye snickered.

"Yes the less they talk the happier we'll be!" Empath said.

Emma walked into the room. "All right class, let's get started shall we?"

James slouched in. He wore the shirt and jacket of the school uniform but was wearing jeans instead. "You're tardy, Warpath," Emma gave him a cool eye. "And you are not completely in uniform."

"We he ain't either," James pointed to Evan.

"Yeah well the jacket clashed with my spikes," Evan told him.

"Enough!" Emma raised her hand. "I'll speak to you later Warpath. Right now we need to go over a few things. With the school being rebuilt you won't be able to go to your usual separate classes. Fortunately the Hellfire club has unlimited funds and resources so we were able to rebuild this part of the school and some of the dorms quickly. However, there is still limited class space. So that means I will be teaching all your classes for now."

"Lucky us," Beef grumbled.

"So we will have a light curriculum," Emma pointed to a huge stack of books." Everyone is to take one of each color. The blue books will be your European History texts. Orange your advanced calculus texts. Yellow your Intermediate Business Strategies text. Green covers advanced physics. In addition you are required to take your introduction to Elizabethan comedy textbooks as well as pick one workbook on whichever language you would like to choose. Your choices are Spanish, German, Japanese and Cantonese. Since Cypher has already passed the language requirement he will be my teaching assistant for the language portion of the class."

"Uh…" Evan raised his hand. "I was kind of in jail and stuff. I might be a little behind on this."

"Not to worry Evan," Emma said. "I've taken into consideration your…time off from schooling. So I have scheduled some extra tutoring time for you until you catch up. I expect the first chapters to be read and all the problems in the first sections done by the end of the day. Also I have a few worksheets here for you to finish for homework." She stacked a five-page paper on each desk. "I am giving you the first hour as a free period to get started. I suggest you use this time wisely."

"I love this place already," Evan said sarcastically as Emma left the room.

"Come on," Doug said. "It won't be that bad. I can help you with this stuff. It's not that hard."

"Says the genius," Evan groaned.

"Guess thinking isn't the sewer rat's strong suit," Bevatron snorted.

"Neither is yours!" Tarot snapped.

"Are you having problems in here?" Emma poked her head in.

"No Ms. Frost," Everyone said quickly and went to work. Even Evan knew better than to get on her bad side.

It was a very long morning. Schoolwork was never Evan's strong suit to begin with, so he felt very frustrated. After class he staggered outside. "Oh man my brain feels like it's gonna explode!"

"Don't worry," Empath patted him on the back. "This was just the first day of the new semester. Wait until the exams start."

"Uhhhhggggghhhhh," Evan rolled his eyes. "I think I'm gonna go lie down."

"Well we do get a break for lunch," Doug said. "They haven't rebuilt the cafeteria yet have they?"

"No but they do have a concession stand of some kind on the south quad," Empath said. "You coming Evan?"

"Nah…I think I'll just take a walk around for a bit."

"Okay, but don't be too long, we only have an hour break," Empath told him as he and Doug walked off.

Evan sighed and started to explore the campus. Most of the buildings were still under construction and several students were milling around. They were staring at him as he walked by.

"Geeze even among other mutants I still feel like a freak," He muttered to himself. "Still feels weird walking around in the daytime. Man I have been underground too long."

He turned a corner to a section of the school that didn't seem to have anyone around. "I just need to get used to this…" Evan sighed. "It's not that bad here. Well if you don't count the tons of schoolwork and teammates who want to kill me. Hey!"

Suddenly a can full of garbage was dumped on him. Evan saw Monet flying overhead with an empty garbage can. "Monet! What the hell is this?"

"Thought you might like some lunch," Monet sneered. She tossed the can at him.

Evan skidded out of the way. "Very funny…" He growled as he removed a banana peel from his shoulder.

"Just thought you'd feel more at home if you had some familiar snacks," Monet taunted. "I mean garbage is what you Morlocks eat right? It's not like you people can just walk into a supermarket."

"He won't be walking period after we get through with him," Bevatron sneered as he and Jetstream appeared from one corner.

"You should go back to the sewers where you belong!" Beef snarled as Roulette joined him on the other side.

Evan was surrounded. Monet landed. "Let's make one thing clear Freak, **I'm** the only one around here that calls the shots. Not some pathetic hobo from the sewers."

"He certainly smells like something that lives there," Bevatron laughed.

"You're gonna learn what happens when lower evolved mutants like you forget their place," Monet snarled.

That was when Evan grabbed a handful of trash and threw it right into her face. "AGGHH! GET HIM!" She screamed.

Bevatron shot out an electric volt, but Evan dodged it and it hit Roulette instead, causing her to misfire her bad luck hex. It hit Jetstream instead as he flew towards Evan, which caused him to careen wildly.

"Whoaaaaahhh!" Jetfire blasted past Evan and straight into a wall. "Ow…"

"Get him you idiots!" Monet snarled as Evan created a long spike and used it to knock down Roulette. Evan then created spikes in his feet so he could climb on the wall near Jetstream and did a backflip to kick Bevatron.

"Oh no you don't…" Beef grabbed Evan from behind. Evan increased his spikes. "OW! THAT HURTS!" Beef let go.

"Yeah and this is gonna hurt too," James snarled as he tapped Beef on the shoulder. As Beef turned around he got an uppercut to the jaw and he sailed several feet.

"What are you doing here?" Bevatron snapped.

"I got curious to see what you bozos were up to," James said.

"So now you know," Beef rubbed his jaw and stood up. He walked over to him. "You can't seriously say you want a jerk like him in charge? Look at him! Come on Proudstar, mutants like us can't associate with freaks like **him!** It's bad for our image!"

"I may not be crazy about him, but I sure as hell can't stand an unfair fight!" James snarled as he decked Beef again.

"Fine, we'll just trash the both of…" Monet began. Then Evan shot out several spikes that sliced the sides of her uniform. "My uniform! You…"

Evan ran up to her and pointed a fire spike from his arm and shoved it in her face. "Are gonna do a lot worse if you don't stand down!"

"Your little spikes can't cut my skin," Monet hissed.

"No," Evan poked the fire spike close to her scalp. "But they can give you a real bad hair day if you get my drift."

"You wouldn't…" Monet's eyes grew wider.

"Unless you wanna look like Mr. Clean I suggest you back down. ALL OF YOU!" Evan growled. The others did so.

"Man you guys are wussies you know that?" James snorted. "Looks like you didn't really need my help after all."

"This was the best you got?" Evan snarled as he retracted the spike. "You guys are beyond pathetic!"

"So you beat us, big deal," Roulette snarled. "That still doesn't give you the right to lead us!"

"Listen girl," Evan growled. "While you and your pretty boy friends were lounging around on your butts in your nice warm mansion, I was fighting mutant hating scum on the streets and winning. I was helping mutants survive while you guys were helping yourselves to more chips. I learned how to use my powers to their full potential while all you learned is how to use your powers as a crutch."

"The Hellions are the elite team of mutants!" Monet snapped.

"Yeah we're the best of the best!" Beef said.

"The best at what? Running away? Losing? You did a real great job when the Purists attacked didn't you?" Evan snarled. "You lost your friends and the school burned down. Not to mention one of your secret weapons fell into their hands. Way to go! The Beta Team put up more of a fight than you losers did!"

The other Hellions looked down. "What's the matter?" Evan snarled. "Touched a nerve there? Good! Your pathetic excuse for a team has been beaten again and again by not only the X-Men and the Misfits, but by flatscans! FLATSCANS! How can you call yourselves the elite when you allow humans to nearly annihilate you?"

"It wasn't our fault!" Jetstream shouted.

"No," Emma Frost stepped out of the shadows. "The fault was mine. I failed to prepare you adequately for an attack such as this. Spyke is right. You are all soft and weak. That is going to change."

"How exactly?" Jetstream asked.

"By having Spyke be in charge of your training," Emma smiled.

"No way!" Beef gasped.

"You're gonna let him…" Bevatron started to shout. Evan growled and stuck out a spike. "That sound's reasonable…"

"I suggest you guys go back and have a good night's sleep," Evan snarled. "We're gonna start training bright and early."

The Hellions filed out quickly. "Thanks for having my back man," Evan said to James.

"Hey, like I said, I just don't like unfair fights, that's all," James grunted before he left. "Besides I needed the workout."

"You knew they were gonna do this didn't you?" Evan asked Emma.

"Yes," Emma said. "It was a test of your leadership. Expect more of them. But by the looks of it, I'd say you handled that quite well."

"I still don't get it," Evan said. "We're supposed to be on the same side here. Okay Monet I get but the others…What the hell did I do to them?"

"I'm afraid there's been an…attitude around this school," Emma sighed. "Only recently have we allowed mutants with distinct mutations to attend. I've never had a problem with it myself, but some of the others…"

"I don't believe this…" Evan spat. "Don't we have enough problems with normals than other mutants acting like this?"

"I know, but in light of the recent attacks that may change," Emma said. "Mutants are appearing every day now. Our numbers are growing slowly, but we still are a minority. We have to prepare to take charge of our futures and secure them before they're taken away."

"No matter what it takes?" Evan asked.

"I think you know the answer to that," Emma said. "See you in class Evan." She walked away.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Evan breathed out.


	4. Big Man on Campus

**Big Man On Campus**

The next few weeks were a whirlwind for Evan. Although the schoolwork proved to be a challenge, Evan was adapting better than he expected in the classroom, thanks to Doug's tutoring and some helpful pointers from Emma. Telepathic lessons made learning a lot easier and faster.

Out of the classroom was even better. It didn't take long for Evan to realize that he was now the most popular student on campus. His known exploits among the X-Men and the publicity from the Spears trial had become legendary. The fact he was now leading the Hellions only made his reputation grow. Before he knew it, everyone wanted to be his friend (or girlfriend).

Evan decided to take advantage of it. He purposely made friends with members of other squads. Especially the leaders of the other squads. Before long he had the respect of nearly all the students on campus. He was invited to and attended all the parties on campus. He even had a few casual dates.

Training the Hellions however was another story.

"Come on Warpath!" Evan snapped. "Are you gonna attack or do I need to send you an invitation?"

"We've been at this all freaking day!" James shouted. "I attack you, you trip me. How many times we gotta do this?"

"As many times as we have to!" Evan shouted. He and James were the only one in a gym set up for training.

"Why do you gotta rag on me? At least I showed up today!" James shouted. "These personal sessions are a drag!"

"How else am I gonna know everyone's strengths and weaknesses?" Evan shouted. "You're the only one who hasn't done his! Even Monet showed up when it was her turn! Of course it was only to try and beat the snot out of me but still…"

"Yeah well this is a total waste of time! Why do we have to train anyway? I mean that's all you have us do! We're not freaking robots! And why the hell are you **laughing?**" James' jaw dropped as Evan broke out in laughter.

"I was just thinking about how ironic life can get," Evan shook his head. "Look I know you don't like to be told what to do. Believe me I know where you're coming from."

"Then you know where I'm going!" James snarled as he went to leave.

"And I thought you wanted to beat the X-Men," Evan snapped at his back. James stopped in his tracks. "Guess it didn't matter what happened to your brother after all."

"Don't you **ever** say **anything **about my brother or how I felt about him!" James whirled on him.

"I don't have to! You're saying **plenty** by giving up so easily," Evan said. "You wouldn't last five seconds against the X-Men if you keep running out like this! Trust me, I know those guys better than anyone! The way you're going you couldn't even beat the old Brotherhood, let alone them."

"I don't really need to be part of a team to get my revenge," James said stubbornly.

"These are the guys who took down Magneto, Cobra and Apocalypse," Evan told him. "Hell they fight with the Misfits practically every day just for fun! You really think you can just waltz in and beat 'em?"

James frowned. "You have a point."

"Look man, I hear you," Evan told him. "Yeah this training is rough and I hate it too. But if that's what it takes to beat the X-Men I say bring it on. I know what I'm talking about. These guys have been together forever and know how to work together as a team. The only chance we have of taking them down is that we become a better team!"

James didn't say anything. "Okay how about we take a break and we do this tomorrow?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, fine…" James waved and walked away, nearly bumping into Tarot and Empath.

"So how did he do?" Tarot asked indicating James with her head.

"Ohhh," Evan groaned. He put his hand to his head. "I don't know about this team sometimes…"

"Come on," Empath said. "It's not that bad. Trust me on this. I've been with this team from the beginning. I can tell, we're doing a lot better."

"He's right," Tarot said. "Everyone's coming together and working more like a team."

"Yeah so they can beat me up," Evan grunted. "Remember yesterday during the obstacle course?"

"Yes, it is rather suspicious that those tires suddenly caught fire like that and started rolling towards you," Empath grinned.

"I never realized how hard it is being in charge," Evan grunted. "No wonder Cyclops was such a tight ass."

"Why don't you forget about all that for now?" Tarot asked. "Let's do something fun!"

"How about we go to the party at the Epsilons?" Empath suggested. "We can get Cypher to come along."

"Nah I already tried," Evan waved. "He's working on a project with Ms. Frost tonight. You know how he gets. But just let me get cleaned up and I'll be ready."

Not long after the three of them went to the Epsilon house. "It looks wonderful," Tarot said. "You'd never know that the Purists burned it."

"So you know these people?" Empath asked as they went in. "I must admit I've never really mingled with the Epsilons before."

"I know one or two," Evan grinned. "Yo! Tony! Brian!"

Two sixteen-year-old boys, one Italian with long black hair and the other with red hair waved him over. "Guys, this is Tony Denarmasio and Brian Kendey. They're co-leaders of the Epsilon team."

"Denarmasio?" Empath asked. "Are you by chance related to Anthony 'The Shark' Denarmasio in North Jersey?"

"My uncle," Tony shrugged in a Jersey accent. "Let's just say being a mutant will be a plus in the family business."

"I'm afraid my relatives wouldn't be so understanding, ironically," Brian grinned with an upper class Boston accent. "Both of us are telepaths and Anthony here can also shoot out force beams from his hands. We all know what the two of you can do due to your reputation."

"Hey Evan here's a real stand up guy," Tony said. "You guys lucky to have him. Have some drinks and mingle, we'll catch up later. We're playing host tonight…" They moved off. "Hey Solomon! Sharon! Get some drinks for our friends here!"

An eighteen year old girl with black hair, tan skin, a green dress and huge bat like wings on her back waved them over. "Hey! We got some Hellions here!"

"I'm Solomon O' Sullivan," A stout black haired 19 year old with a cleft chin and a twinkle in his eye shook his hand. "Resident RA of Epsilon House. The lovely lady with the wings here is Sharon Ginsberg, my girlfriend."

"Solomon O' Sullivan?" Empath asked.

"Fifty percent Jewish, Fifty percent Irish," Solomon winked. "One hundred percent mutant."

"So what do you do?" Evan asked. "I mean what's your codename?"

"Epsilons don't use codenames," Sharon told him. "Because of the work we are going to do. Can you imagine a lawyer secretly putting on a pair of spandex and running around with a flashy name?"

"Weirder things have happened," Solomon shrugged. "But to answer your question…"He opened up his shirt and revealed several strange red words and markings all over his chest.

"What the hell…?" Evan blinked.

"And you thought you had it bad," Solomon snickered. "Less than a year ago it started out as random words. Sometimes I get messages, signs…sometimes its random. I peel a couple layers off every day and save 'em. Maybe I'll write the great American Jewish Irish novel with 'em."

"Holy…" James blinked.

"Don't worry," Sharon shrugged. "He's very thick skinned and it doesn't hurt. The stuff doesn't even dissolve. It's like leather. But then we all have to have a thick skin for our futures so…"

"You're all gonna go into politics?" Evan asked.

"Personally I'm going into show business," Solomon grinned. "Gonna be an agent. Not just any agent, gonna run my own talent agency and get my own studio! Hey! The media is a very powerful tool. With mutants in control we can show what we want, when we want!"

"I'm going to stick to the legal part of the business," Sharon grinned. "Someone has to write contract negotiations."

"That's right baby," Solomon kissed her forehead. "You and me are gonna own Hollywood! Gonna **own **it! Don't be fooled, she may have the wings of an angel but she's got the teeth of a piranha and the killer instinct of a shark! God I love that in a woman!"

"They're bat wings you fool," Sharon smirked.

"Bats are angels of the night my dear," Solomon grinned.

"Okay how much have you drunk already?" Sharon looked at him.

"Not a single drop! I'm drunk on love and power! Guess who just produced his first documentary?" He laughed as he picked her up.

"A student film on the sex life of a college campus dorm far away from here is hardly Oscar material," Sharon laughed. "Put me down you idiot!"

"Seriously though, it did make a respectable showing in the independent movie scene," A brown haired 18-year-old boy wearing a white Armani suit strode up to them. "Solomon put it together at his old prep school before joining us. I'm Keith Andrews by the way."

"Charmed I'm sure," Tarot allowed Keith to kiss her hand. "So what do you do? Are you another telepath?"

"Nope," Keith grinned. "Let's just say I have a lot in common with your friend Wolfsbane."

"A werewolf?" Evan blinked. "I guess it's possible that there's more than one."

"You have no idea," Kevin made a wolfish grin.

"So are you going into law or show business?" Empath asked.

"Real Estate," Keith corrected.

"A mutant version of Donald Trump huh?" Tarot grinned. "I could see that."

Soon the party was in full swing. Evan found himself spending time with a lot of young girls and soon he was drinking wine with Solomon. "You say this wine is specially made for mutants so they don't get sick? Not a bad deal."

"Eat, drink and be merry," Solomon downed a glass of wine. "For tomorrow we all may die. Or blow the exams which in my case is the same thing if my grandmother finds out what my grades are…"

"They can't be any worse than mine. I gotta admit you have a real swinging party going on here."

"Thank you. But I gotta confess I invited you for another reason," Solomon said. And he told him.

"You wanna make a movie? About my life?" Evan looked at him. "Are you insane?"

"Of course I am, so do you want to do it?" Solomon asked. "Obviously we'll have an edited version. You know, show that you were innocent. We'll put the blame on that Grippin nut. But still think of how great it would be! Of course I have to get a studio first and a few other minor details sorted out before I can make it…"

"You are serious!" Evan blinked.

"It may take a few years but Evan, I think I can produce an Oscar winning movie about your life," Solomon said.

"A few years? You don't even have a studio yet!"

"Hey you gotta start these things as early as possible!" Solomon told him. "Besides my chest told me it was gonna be a hit. Well not exactly a hit but it's never steered me wrong so far!"

"And what exactly did it say?" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"You tell me," Solomon took out something from his pocket. It was a piece of leather like skin. It said EVAN DANIELS SUPERSTAR. SIGN NOW!

"And this is proof of what?" Evan was definitely interested but tried not to show it.

"Daniels, let me tell you a secret," Solomon whispered. "The night before the attack, I got a message on my chest that said skip school in order to live. I took Sharon early that morning and we snuck out into the next town. Supposedly to have some fun. That night when we got back…Well, you can guess the rest."

"Why didn't you…?" Evan's jaw dropped.

"Tell the others? Why do you think? Most people here think I'm a shmuck with a stupid power and a stupid dream. They'd never believe me. Sharon didn't believe me. She does now."

"Yeah well…" Evan said. "Next time you get a writing like that…Tell me about it okay?"

"I will if you sign," Solomon grinned.

"Sign what?" Evan asked.

"This!" Solomon wrote something on a cocktail napkin. "You agree to me being your agent and have exclusive rights to your life story!"

"A cocktail napkin? You want me to sign my life story on a **cocktail napkin?**"

"Why the hell not? Sharon said it's legally binding. A document's a document no matter what it's signed on." He showed it to him. "We can always finalize the details later but this is pretty simple and straightforward."

"Man I never thought anybody'd sign me up to be an actor," Evan looked at it.

"Not just an actor, a superstar," Solomon told him. "A presence. A force to be reckoned with. Listen to me, you and me ain't like these shmucks who run around with their powers fighting all the time. In the long run, that gets nobody nowhere. You were with the X-Men. You know what happened whenever they did good. Did anybody give 'em the credit they deserve? No!"

"You got that right," Evan said bitterly.

"You know I'm right," Solomon took a drink. "Best they can get is a thank you from some elected official who says what good little muties they are one minute and the next he's trying to throw those shmucks in some dammed concentration camp. Or worse. Well that ain't gonna happen to me. Not if I can help it."

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Evan asked.

"**We**, we're gonna do about it," Solomon told him. "We're gonna get the power where it really counts. In the courts, and the government and the politics and all that junk. We're gonna buy up all the property we can get, quietly so nobody will notice see? Become movers and shakers in all aspects of life. Especially the media. And by the time those dummies that hate us realize what we're doing, we're gonna own everything! And there will be nothing they can do about it! Imagine, whole corporations run by mutants! Entire blocks, no towns and cites where we can live and hold our heads up high. And no mutant will ever have to live in a sewer and hide what he or she is ever again."

"I like the sound of that," Evan admitted.

"Yeah and we can evict those FOH scum from their own meeting houses and homes! They'll be the ones who have to live in the sewers!" Solomon sneered.

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"I ain't asking you to jump ship with the Hellions. That's crazy talk. But we do need an alliance. I gotta feeling one day the Hellions won't be enough for you. And when that day comes, I wanna be by your side. You in the spotlight and me running things from behind. We'll make millions. What do you say?"

"You sound like you want your own team of mutants," Evan said. "What are you gonna do? Call 'em O Force?"

"That's not a bad idea," Solomon pursed his lips. He jotted that down on the napkin. "Here I even gave you fifty percent if that idea ever happens. What do you say?"

"Why the hell not?" Evan grinned as he signed the napkin. "Just let me know when you start shooting okay?"

"You'll never regret this," Solomon grinned. "I promise you Spyke. You and me are gonna go places!"

"Spyke," Tarot slunk up to him. "Mind if I steal him away?"

"He's all yours," Solomon bowed out. "I gotta go find my own lovely lady." He walked off whistling.

"You know I never realized how much fun these things were," Tarot told him.

"There are some pretty interesting characters around here," Evan admitted. "So what's this with you and Kevin?"

"Nothing much," Tarot shrugged. "Turns out he's gay."

"Ouch, sorry."

"Don't be, he's not the one I came with anyway," Tarot grinned.

"You know, you're one of the few Hellions that did support me," Evan leaned closer. "I gotta thank you for that."

"I can think of a good way," Tarot grinned as she leaned in for a kiss.

"DON'T YOU IDIOTS HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DRINK AROUND HERE!" The angry voice of Monet was heard before they could connect.

"Oh man," Evan groaned. "Just when I was having a good time."

"Right on schedule," Tarot groaned. They both went over where Monet was shouting at Sharon. "Oh look, she's made a friend."

"I have better things to do than to converse with a lower evolved mutant," Monet snapped at Sharon.

"Yeah like doing dishes. Face it Monet, you're a washed up skank…" Sharon sneered.

"I'll show **you **who's washed up, Batgirl!" Monet lunged towards her only to be blocked by Evan. "Well look who decided to appear!"

"Listen Monet, your problem is with me," Evan got in her face. "Actually you have a lot of other problems as well but there's no reason to ruin everyone else's fun because you can't handle the fact you're not in charge of the Hellions anymore! Maybe you should be considering the reasons **why **you got demoted instead of creating even more problems for yourself! Now why don't you just chill out and go back to the dorm before you make an even bigger fool of yourself?"

Everyone clapped their hands. Monet turned red. "I only came here to get you and the others!" She snapped. "Frost wants us."

"Fine," Evan said. He turned to Tony. "Sorry about this."

"You don't have to apologize," Tony waved. "Fugetaboutit."

"We all know Miss Priss here is a killjoy!" Someone shouted. "That's why nobody invites her to any parties!"

"Who said that?" Monet snapped.

"Not today my dear," Empath took her arm while Evan took the other one. "Let's leave before you make another ugly scene shall we?"

"Fine," Monet let herself be led out. "I don't deserve this! I'm not a freaking errand girl!"

"Yeah and errand girl gets more respect than you," Tarot told her. "But what's this all about?"

"Frost wants us. We got a mission. That is if you are all sober enough," Monet sniffed as she broke away from the boys and stormed off.

"Ten minutes with her will sober **anyone **up," Empath grumbled.

They made it to the dorm where the other Hellions were preparing. "Ah so good of you to join us Spyke," Emma nodded. "Sorry to tear you away from your fun but we have a mission."

"The day for payback has finally arrived!" Bevatron whooped.

"What? We're going after the X-Men?" Evan asked.

"Better," Emma told him. "Cypher here has discovered the location of a Purist stronghold in the Rockies."

"We can spy on them and find out what they're doing," Doug said. "I helped our computer experts crack the codes on their secret location."

"So the egghead is good for something after all," Beef folded his arms.

"Cypher, return to the computer center and see if you can find more locations of Purist strongholds," Emma ordered. "Spyke, prepare the rest of the team. Let's see how this team has progressed."

"Sure," Evan nodded as Doug left the room. Then he asked. "I take it there's another reason Cypher's not joining us?"

"Cypher may be a bit…hesitant about certain parts of the mission," Emma told him.

"In other words you don't think the geek would like us wiping out those Purist scum," Beef snorted.

"No problem for me," Bevatron grinned. "That just leaves more Purists I can fry!"

"That's not going to be a problem for you, is it Spyke?" Emma asked.

"No," Evan looked at her. "These people nearly killed all the mutants in New York. It's either them or us."

"Leave no survivors," Emma ordered. "Take our latest secret weapon and send a message. When you attack the Hellions, you sign your own death warrant."

**A thousand brownie points if you can guess where Solomon O' Sullivan and Sharon Ginsberg are from. Hint: They're from a very weird and wonderfully bizarre X-Title. The others are mine! What is the 'secret weapon' the Hellions have? Find out when the Hellions take on the Purists and get interrupted by a certain team of mutants who's name begins with X!**


	5. Confrontation

**Confrontation**

"Man this was too easy," Bevatron snorted as he surveyed the damage. "They didn't even last twenty minutes." Wreckage was strewn everywhere around them. Nothing was left standing of the Purist stronghold. Not even the Purists themselves.

"Scratch one Purist base!" Tarot laughed as she used her cards. "HAMMER CARD!" A huge hammer appeared and started to smash what was left. "Like playing whack a mole!"

"Looks like we'll be able to make it back to that party at theEpsilon House after all," Empath grinned as he walked over to Evan.

"Yeah, they're not so tough without Stryker watching their back. Any casualties?" Evan asked Empath.

"None for us," Empath grinned. "We got 14 of those flatscans."

Evan heard a rustling behind him. He shot out a spike impaling a Purist trying to ambush him. "Make that fifteen," Evan snarled.

"Nice shot," Empath admired his handiwork.

"I thought so. So did you find anything interesting before you blew it up?" Evan asked.

"Well we did manage to pick up a few souvenirs," Empath pointed to a small pile of weapons on the side.

"I got a gold watch," Beef showed it off.

"Not to mention some extra spending money," Bevatron held up a wallet. "These guys are better than ATMs. And so service charge fees."

"Yeah well it's **these **I'm more interested in," Evan indicated the weapons. "Assault rifles, grenades, plasma grenades, laser rifles…"

"I guess the collection plate racket is doing pretty well these days," Empath remarked.

"How much you wanna bet half of these weapons are illegal?" Jetstream picked one up. "Not that it did them much good."

"We're not finished yet," Spyke told him. "Empath, Monet, do either of you sense any survivors?"

"There's still a few rats in the woods," Monet used her telepathy to scan the area. "And there's another part of the base we haven't hit."

"Let me guess, a separate hole for the rats to hide in case the first one got trashed huh?" Beef grinned. "So we going after them?"

"You heard Frost," Evan readied one of his spikes. "No survivors. Monet, you track down any stragglers with Bevatron and pick 'em off before they reach the second base. The rest of us are gonna hit the base hard and fast."

"That's not going to be hard," Monet snorted. "There's only eight of them and they're all headed in the same direction."

"Three guesses why?" Evan nodded. "Okay we follow 'em and smoke the rest out!"

"Gee that sounds like fun. How come I was left out of the party?" James' voice crackled on Evan's headset.

"Somebody had to stay with the plane," Evan snapped. "And we need you for backup. I have a feeling either the X-Men or Misfits are gonna be crashing our party sooner or later. You're our ace in the hole! Everyone, let's move out!"

Adrenaline pumped through Evan's veins as they tracked down the Purists. It didn't take them long before they tracked them down to a cabin. He watched his team take the cabin apart with ease, picking off the enemy one by one. He felt his heart surge with pride as he cut one Purist's laser rifle in half.

"No please!" The Purist begged. "Don't kill me!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Evan snarled, menacing towards him. "You wanted to kill mutants! Why shouldn't we kill you before you kill us?"

"Because **we** won't let you!" He heard a familiar voice shout, before an optic blast separated him from his prey. Evan looked up and saw Scott, Rouge, Kurt, Kitty, Jean, Bobby, Tabitha, Peter and Ray there.

"Well if it isn't the X-Men," Evan said. "Why am I not surprised you guys showed up? Then again butting in where you're not wanted was always your strong point!"

"We heard you hooked up with these slimeballs," Rogue growled. "Some of us didn't wanna believe it!"

"What's so hard to believe?" Evan snarled. "You and the Morlocks kicked me out and there was no way I was going to go with Magneto! Where else was I supposed to go? Disneyland?"

"Spyke was tired of hanging around with you losers anyway," Tarot grinned. "He wanted to lead a **real** mutant team!"

"Lead?" Rogue spat. "Spyke you couldn't lead a mouse into a cheese factory!"

"Ms. Frost thinks differently," Evan told her. "She sees my real potential. She knows what I'm capable of and doesn't hold me back!"

"Storm was the one who always said you were the one who had potential!" Scott shouted. "She was the one who always defended you and looked out for you, and this is how you repay her?"

"My aunt here?" Evan asked.

Scott shook his head. "No, she couldn't bring herself to fight you."

"Good, that's all I wanted to know!" Evan snarled as he shot his fire spikes out at the X-Men. "GET 'EM!"

"Oh yeah! It's payback time!" Beef charged at Peter.

"Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?" Peter snorted as he punched him back.

"I've been saving a special card just for you!" Tarot kissed it before she conjured it. "TORNADO CARD!" She sent out a huge tornado straight at Ray and Bobby. It trapped them both in the vortex.

"Whoa!" Bobby shouted. "I think I'm gonna lose my lunch!"

"Stop the ride! I wanna get off!" Ray shouted.

"Eat energy jerks!" Tabitha threw her time bombs all around.

"Taste fear fools!" Empath snarled as he sent out an empathic assault against the X-Men.

"How bout you eat dirt instead?" Rogue shouted as she slammed a fist into Empath.

"Monet! You're the best chance we have against Rogue! And for crying out loud don't let her touch your skin!" Evan snapped.

"Fine!" Monet snapped as she flew off. "Try this on for size!" She sent a sharp punch then a telepathic assault against Rogue.

"No!" Jean sent out a telepathic assault as well. It became a vicious fight with neither team backing down.

Evan and Kurt were fighting each other. "You'd better back down Nightcrawler! I may have to hurt you if you don't!"

"Like you did the humans here? How could you do this Evan?" Kurt shouted. "How could you kill these people?"

"Open your eyes, man! **They **were gonna kill **us!**" Evan shouted. "What do you think they were gonna do with all this hardware? Open up a store?"

Just then the ground rumbled beneath them. "What's going on?" Kitty shouted.

"You're doomed!" Catseye shouted as she reverted to her giant lion form and pinned her.

"Oh please!" Kitty phased through her grip. "This Kitty's got more than nine lives!"

Suddenly the ground beneath the destroyed cabin broke open. Seven huge purple metallic pods with four legs each and lasers on three sides rose out of the ground. "It's a hidden lab!" Scott shouted as the pods shot at them.

"Damn Purists…" Bevatron sent a shockwave at one of them. "They must have been planning this!"

"See what I mean?" Evan shouted as he shot fire spikes at the pods. "You still think these people are innocent? They haven't learned their lesson! They're still trying to wipe us out! I wouldn't be surprised if Xavier knew about this too!"

"Too? What do you mean?" Kurt teleported out of the way of a laser blast.

"He knew, Nightcrawler!" Evan snarled. "He **knew!** About the Hellfire Club, The Academy, Trask and the Sentinel! He knew everything! And he did **nothing **about it!"

"That's crazy!" Scott shouted as he blasted a laser off one of the pods.

"It's true! Frost told us all about it! Face it, Xavier's lied to us about a lot of stuff," Evan advanced. "Purposely keeping us in the dark so we'd all act like good little X-Men and follow his lead!"

"Can we argue about this later and concentrate on blasting these things for now?" Tabitha shouted as she launched a few energy bombs at one pod. It became crippled and crashed into a tree.

The frightened pilot of it climbed out. "Hey these things have people inside them!" Jetstream shouted. He grabbed the pilot and tossed him straight into a tree at super speed.

"Not for long!" Evan fought against the machines.

With the X-Men and Hellions working together, the machines were quickly disposed of. "Jetstream! Bevatron! Tarot! Go down the rat hole and flush 'em out!" Evan ordered.

"I got a better idea," Bevatron showed him a few plasma grenades. "A couple of these babies with my electricity outta fry whatever's left down there in seconds."

"You can't do that!" Kitty shouted, running towards him. Suddenly a loud sonic blast came from the trees. It stopped her cold. "AGGGHH!"

"Sorry I'm late," James Proudstar appeared with a huge device on his back. It looked like a white flame-thrower. "This sonic incapacitator is heavier than it looks!"

"I know you…You're James Proudstar!" Scott shouted.

"Name's Warpath, One-Eye," James snarled. "And it's payback time for what you did to my brother!" He pressed the button on the device, sending out sonic waves straight at the X-Men.

The X-Men screamed as they fell to their knees. "Can't…think," Jean gasped. "Much less use my powers!"

"Now! While they're distracted!" Evan ordered.

"Fire in the hole!" Bevatron shouted as he tossed the grenades into the opening, then charged them as they fell.

"NO!" Scott screamed as a huge explosion rocked the place. He managed to move his hands to his visor and shoot the sonic incapacitator.

"Damn it! They broke the darn thing!" James snarled as he threw it off him before it exploded. "I guess I'll have to break you the old fashioned way!"

"Come on and try it!" Scott growled.

"Help us!" Two Purists screamed as they ran from Catseye.

"Uh uh," Kurt teleported and grabbed the Purists, then teleported them away from Catseye. "Go play with a ball of yarn!"

"Get your hands off us mutie!" One of the Purists screamed as he shoved Kurt away. The other drew out a knife whilethe first onegrabbed a gun and pointed it at Kurt.

Evan saw this and used his spikes to stab them both before anyone else could react. They fell dead to the ground. "You didn't have to kill them!" Scott shouted.

"Are you completely blind or something?" Tarot shouted. "They were gonna killNightcrawler even though he was trying to help them!"

"Let that be a lesson to you what happens when you try to help scum like this," Evan growled.

"No! We're gonna teach you murders a lesson!" Scott shot out his eye beams at them. The battle was on again as fierce as it was before. However not long into the battle Scott was shooting force beams at Jetstream in order to bring him down. Evan realized that Scott's left flank was unguarded.

He hesitated. Then anger coursed through him as he remembered all the things Scott said to him. Before he could stop himself he shot out several large spikes straight at Scott.

"CYKE LOOK OUT!" Tabitha shouted as she shoved Scott out of the way.

Evan flinched inwardly as one spike hit Tabitha's shoulder. She screamed in agony. "NO!" Scott shouted in horror as spikes pierced her right side and upper thigh.

"Tabitha! No!" Kitty shouted. "Evan how could you do that?"

"Guys…It hurts!" Tabitha screamed. "AAAHHHH!"

"Yeah and this is gonna hurt even more!" Bevatron shot his energy at them.

Jean put up a barrier just in time. "Scott we gotta get her out of here!" She told him.

"Nightcrawler! Take Shadowcat with you and go back to the jet!" Scott ordered. Kurt did so.

"Cyclops there is no point in staying here and fighting them," Peter told him.

"He's right," Jean said. "It's not worth Tabitha's life! We need to get her back to the mansion immediately!"

"All right. You'll pay for this Spyke!" Scott shouted in rage. "Next time I promise you…You'll pay!"

"Yeah right!" Bevatron shouted as the X-Men retreated. "Look at 'em run!"

"Shouldn't we go after them?" Roulette asked.

"No, we did what we came to do," Evan told them. "Hellions, take what's left of that pod over there and move out."

"I still would have liked a chance to pound those jerks some more," James snarled. "At least they got a taste of what my brother got."

"Who cares? We won!" Beef chortled as he carried the wreckage of one of the pods.

"Yeah," Evan said quietly. "We beat 'em."

"You're not sorry about what you did are you?" Monet challenged.

"You actually miss your old pals?" Bevatron sneered.

"Those losers?" Evan had a hard glint in his eye. "I'm just sorry that Xavier wasn't there to see it all."

"Don't worry," Empath grinned. "I think he got your message loud and clear."

"Yeah," Evan said to himself, knowing he had just crossed the final line between him and the X-Men permanently.


	6. Unpleasant Truths Must Be Told

****

Unpleasant Truths Must Be Told

"Is she all right? Is she gonna be okay?" Sam asked frantically.

"She's lost a lot of blood and she's badly injured," Hank informed him as he came out of the infirmary. "But she should make a full recovery."

"Thank God," Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. All the other X-Men were there in the hallway.

"Let's go talk in the war room," Xavier suggested. "Let Tabitha rest for now." They did so.

"You know the ironic thing about all this?" Scott said. "I'm always telling her to be more careful in battle and what happens? She gets hurt because of me!"

"**Spyke** was the one that hurt her!" Sam told him. "You can't blame yourself for what **he** did!"

"Sam is right," Xavier put his hand on Scott's arm in order to comfort him. "She did what you would have done yourself. We were lucky you got her here in time."

"I'm sorry Professor," Scott sighed. "It's bad enough we failed but…"

"Scott, you had to retreat," Xavier said. "The Purist base was destroyed and you couldn't save them. You did the best you could considering the circumstances. Tabitha's life was more important than a prolonged battle with the Hellions"

"Yeah we're not killers," Rogue said. "Unlike **some** people I could mention." Then she saw Ororo stiffen. "I'm sorry Ororo. I wasn't…"

"You were only saying aloud what I was thinking myself," Ororo told her sadly.

"Well we know **this **time Evan had a hand in killing those people," Kurt said angrily. "And we can prove he and the Hellions were involved!"

"Oh yeah sure," Ray drawled. "Just call up the cops and report them. We'll say 'I'd like to report a mass murder of a group of humans by a bunch of mutants. But it's okay, because they were making weapons to use against mutants.' Are you kidding? They'd probably arrest **us** instead!"

"He's right. The Hellions are merely the foot soldiers of the Hellfire Club," Logan said. "They do the dirty work while their bosses like Frost run the show. And in return they get protection from the law. If they're successful."

"You saying the Hellfire Club has of some kind of pull that keeps the cops away from the Hellions?" Bobby asked.

"Let's just say their members have a lot of powerful connections and leave it at that," Logan told them. "If we told the authorities about this we'd be the ones who would get in trouble."

"So they can like literally get away with murder and there's nothing we can do about it?" Kitty shouted. "I don't believe this!"

"You'd be surprised how many crimes are committed and are never reported or simply 'overlooked'," Remy told her. "Back in New Orleans both the Thieves and Assassins guilds have the cops on their payroll. If any members commit a crime down there they walk, unless they are really stupid. And I mean **really** stupid."

"Professor, there's something I want to ask you," Kurt asked. "Have you always known about the Hellfire Club and did they warn you about Trask and the Sentinel?"

"You didn't really believe that garbage Spyke was spewing out did ya?" Rogue asked.

"Well you have to admit the Professor and Logan seem to know quite a bit about them," Kurt admitted."And something tells me you knew more than before you were kidnapped by Frost last year."

"All right, I suppose I should tell you what I do know," Xavier sighed. "Centuries ago, the Hellfire Club was originally a place where the elite of society could mingle and do business. Not to mention practice…well let's just say less than legal forms of recreation."

"You mean like gambling and prostitution and stuff," Jamie folded his arms. "We do watch a lot of TV you know?"

"Yes well," Xavier looked uncomfortable. "It was because of that reputation that many families would have nothing to do with them. Mine was one of them. Even though they put on the airs of the most respectable club ever…Only a few people outside the club knew differently. Several years ago, long before I had even thought of creating the X-Men I and another young man named Magnus were approached to become members because of our abilities."

"You mean Magneto," Rogue frowned.

"Yes," Xavier sighed. "Let's just say we both turned the membership down but for different reasons. While I was morally opposed of their plans of using mutants in order to take over the world, Magnus thought he could control the world before they did."

"Wait, what you said confused me," Bobby frowned. "Using mutants? I thought they **were** mutants?"

"It wasn't like that in the beginning," Logan said. "Long story short, they didn't realize that some of their members were mutants. These members got wind of their plans to enslave mutants."

"And those mutants took over the whole thing? Am I right?" Remy asked.

"Not all the members of the new Inner Circle are mutants, but that's pretty much it in a nutshell," Xavier admitted. "Just as I was recruiting the X-Men they contacted me again, claiming that a scientist named Trask was working on a device to hunt mutants. If I agreed to allow them access to my students, they would tell me where he was and what he was planning."

"Obviously the Professor told 'em to take a hike," Logan grunted. "They tried to get him to see it their way, but me and Ororo 'persuaded' 'em to back off. You see where I'm going with this here?"

"Yeah we get it," Sam said. "In other words as far as the Hellfire Club is concerned we're on our own."

"Professor, don't you know anything more about the Hellfire Club?" Jean asked.

"I don't know who all the members are or who runs the Hellfire Club," Xavier said. "But I do know that they are extremely ambitions and corrupt. They will do anything to gain power."

"Let me guess, they're like Magneto only they use lawyers instead of soldiers," Bobby folded his arms.

"That's pretty much the case," Xavier nodded. "Until now."

"So Evan was only partially right about you knowing about the Hellfire Club and Trask," Kurt thought.

"Yes, but I should have taken Trask more seriously," Xavier sighed. "I had no idea he would create something that monstrous!"

"I don't think anybody could have predicted that Trask would make that giant Japanese rip-off," Logan grunted. "And there's no way you should have made a partnership with people like that. Those type of folks…Once they have you, they'll never let go until they're done with you. And then throw what's left of you away so no one else can use you again."

"I couldn't take the chance of any of you being exploited by them," Xavier explained.

"Like they're doing to Evan," Kurt frowned.

"HEY!" Rogue snapped. "He ain't the one lying in a hospital bed!"

"Don't tell me you forgot what he did to Tabby!" Ray snapped.

"He crossed way over the line!" Sam snapped. "I'm personally gonna rip out his spikes and shove them down his lying throat!"

Ororo's lip trembled and she quickly went out of the room. "Way to go guys!" Kitty snapped as she followed Ororo.

"Like it's our fault Spyke turned traitor?" Ray shouted after her.

"You have all the sensitivity of a brick, ya know that?" Paige snapped.

The other X-Men began to talk and bicker among themselves. Xavier sighed and wheeled off with Logan following. "I should have told them sooner," Xavier confided in Logan. "I knew the Hellfire Club was interested in us but I assumed…"

"After the 'incident' they'd just leave us alone?" Logan scoffed. "Fat chance. I still say you should have let me go after them and rescue…"

"We couldn't have done that! We didn't have enough manpower to do so! It was before Scott and the others, remember?" Xavier explained. "We were lucky to get away ourselves. That's another of my mistakes I have to live with."

"We could do it now," Logan said.

"We don't even know where she is, let alone if we can…" Xavier rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I never should have let her go. She was too young and inexperienced to stave off the Hellfire Club's telepaths for long."

"It wasn't your call to make. She was gonna do it whether you let her or not," Logan pointed out. "She…"

"Professor?" Kitty rounded the corner. "Ororo's really shaken up badly. I don't know what to do."

"I'll talk to her," Logan sighed. He tracked her down to the greenhouse and found her absently tending the plants. "Hey."

"I don't need to read minds to know what you want to talk about," Ororo sighed.

"I know you're hurting 'Ro," Logan put his hand on her shoulder.

"Not as much as Evan hurt Tabitha," She shook her head. "How could he do such a thing Logan? Has he changed so much that…I just don't know him anymore. He's not the boy I knew."

"Ororo," Logan hesitated. "I never wanted to be the one to say this, but I have to tell it to you straight."

"I think I can guess," Ororo held up her hand.

"We can't handle him with kid gloves anymore," Logan told her. "He's become a real threat. He's killed people. Yeah they're weren't exactly nice people by any long shot but…"

"But we can't allow Evan to just walk away," Ororo finished. "Especially after what he did to Tabitha. I know. But it doesn't hurt any less."

"I'm sorry," Logan held her. "I'm so sorry."

"Not as sorry as Evan is going to be when I get my hands on him," Ororo said coldly. She pulled away. "You were right about one thing Logan, we can't ignore Evan as a threat anymore. He's my responsibility. And I'm going to be the one to bring him down."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at the Hellions' dorm…

"Did you have to…?" Doug asked.

"Yes," Evan told him. "They were making machines to hunt and kill mutants. It was either us or them."

"I know but…" Doug shuddered. "To kill them in cold blood like that. It's just…Not what I'm used to."

"That's why I'm telling you now. Because you may have to get your hands messy one day," Evan told him. "Just giving you the heads up."

He got a mental summons from Emma and said. "Look, I know this is a lot. Why don't we cross that bridge later when we come to it, okay? I gotta go."

"Yeah," Doug sighed.

Evan went to Emma's office. Empath was there. "We have a problem," Emma told him. "You remember that information Cypher decoded. Well from what my sources say, it was deliberately leaked. And these people were working on some kind of independent Sentinel like project, but…"

"It was a trap," Empath said. "Somebody wanted us to go there and either destroy them or have them destroy us. Look at this." He showed Evan some paper. "Here are the original documents. Someone hid them in the trash."

"You saying somebody knew about this and deliberately made sure that information was omitted?" Evan asked. "Wait…Cypher would never…"

"Of course not," Emma told him. "I've checked his mind. The boy is innocent and so are you boys. However..."

"However it means we have a spy in our midst," Empath frowned. "Maybe in one of the other houses. Do you think the X-Men planted him or her?"

"I don't know," Emma said. "I wouldn't put it past Xavier. He's tried it before. But we'll find out when we catch this individual."

"What do you mean by that?" Evan asked.

"When we first contacted Xavier he thought he could pull a fast one by planting a spy in our midst," Emma said. "He thought the blocks he placed on her mind couldn't be broken. Long story short…They were. No, I don't think Xavier is behind this. He learned his lesson from the last time. Someone else is spying on us."

"We should find the spy first," Evan pointed out. "And find out who he's working for second. Well it can't be one of us at least."

Emma pursed her lips. "I'm not so sure. The only mental defenses I can't fully penetrate without anyone noticing are Monet and Empath."

"And since I'm the one who found the papers by accident and told Miss Frost here," Empath folded his arms. "There's only one suspect left."

"Monet? I know she's bitter about being replaced as leader, but you really think she'd jeopardize the entire squad?" Evan asked.

"I'm not so sure," Emma thought. "I hope not. But if she is a traitor, Evan I want you to take care of it."

"You mean…?" Evan blinked.

"Let's make sure she's guilty first shall we before we jump to conclusions?" Empath said.

"You're right," Emma said. "We're going to have to be very careful from now on. Very careful."

**Next: Some intrigue, planning and surprises! Oooh!**


	7. Making New Connections

**Making New Connections**

Evan never told anyone about his regrets of what happened that night. He didn't want to be accused of being weak. For although the team had been jubilant by their victory, many of them quickly went back to their old haughty habits. As if Evan's training didn't make any difference at all. However, there were some improvements. James was making some effort in his training and the others were less likely to dismiss him during practice.

Still, his friendships with Doug, Empath and Tarot were strong. As well as those with Solomon and his friends. In fact, he found himself spending more and more time with Tarot and soon the two were dating. They became known as the darling couple on campus.

Between his training, school and his social life, Evan found very little time for regret. A few more months passed quickly. Soon it was Parent's Night at the school but Emma had taken Evan and the Hellions across the country for another mission. A mission so important that Emma herself was supervising.

"So we're gonna meet the Night Pack, huh?" Evan asked.

"Yes they'll be assisting us in this endeavor," Emma told them as they flew in a private jet filled with luxury accommodations.

"So we're really gonna do this?" Doug asked. He was on the mission as well. "We're going to sabotage a rival company?"

"Humantech is not just any rival company," Monet told him. "Have you forgotten that Graydon Creed and his FOH flunkies own it."

"Yes the Inner Circle wants Creed crippled," Emma said. "His mind may be gone but unfortunately his pocketbook is quite healthy. By damaging Humantech we damage the FOH. Also, they have some things we want."

"And what exactly do we want?" Empath asked.

"You'll know when I tell you," Emma said. "Now I'm going to check with the pilot." She got up and left.

"Man I tell you we never traveled like this when I was with the X-Men," Evan stretched out. "This is what I call style"

"Careful you idiot!" Monet snapped. "Your spikes are scratching the leather."

"Oh get over yourself Monet" Evan snapped.

"Why do you think you're really here?" Monet sneered. "So that nobody back at the school can see you! Or any other mutant rejects that can't pass for human. Why else were your parents not invited to the school's open house."

"If that's true then why did you come along?" Evan asked.

"Papa had to go to an important function," Monet waved her arm. "Besides I really didn't feel like going to Paris out of season. But he did give me a nice allowance to buy something for another day."

"Oh you poor deprived child," Bevatron mocked.

"And what's your story?" James challenged. "You get tired of hanging around Tokyo or something Pikachu boy?"

"Not that it's any of your business **Chief,**" Bevatron grunted. "When my family found out I was a mutant they got rid of me. The only reason my father writes me checks are to pay me off. So that I 'disappear' and never bother him again."

"I'm assuming the rest of you are in the same boat?" Evan asked. "I am so sick of you people pretending how good you are just because you can pass for human."

"Amen to that," James grunted.

"You're one to talk," Jetstream snapped. "You barely tolerate us"

"That's because I gotta low tolerance for idiots," James sneered.

"So do I" A voice spoke. To their shock from a shadowy corner of the plane a shadow moved. It formed into a young woman with purple skin, white hair and red eyes. She was wearing a black gothic dress with a gold chain belt and high heeled boots. "If this is Frost meant by the elite, I am not impressed."

"You got three seconds to say who you are and why you're here," Evan readied his spikes.

"Oh I am so afraid," The woman mocked.

"Oh Veil, I thought I sensed your presence," Emma walked in calmly. "Everyone this is Veil, one of the Night Pack. She can hide in and travel through shadows to anywhere in the world."

"We are all ready to attack," Veil said. "Gunslinger instructed me to bring you."

"Uh, maybe you haven't noticed, but we're still in a plane?" Evan pointed out.

"Not for long" Emma said. "This is our drop off point."

"Hang on kids" Veil increased the shadows around her to the point where they covered all the Hellions. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

The next thing Evan knew they were somewhere outside a huge factory somewhere. There were a dozen other mutants there hiding in the woods. They looked like they were preparing for an invasion. "Whoa…Where are we?"

"Outside one of Humantech's remote factories," Emma said.

"This is the Night Pack?" Evan looked at the mutants. "What do you guys know about them?"

"How should we know" Monet snapped. "We don't associate with riff raff!"

"I don't know all their names" Empath frowned. "But I do know that one, Gunslinger, he's in charge." He pointed to a huge mutant with pale white skin and hair wearing a sleeveless red leather jacket and red leather pants with chains. He had a red bandanna on his head and a pair of sunglasses on his face.

"Are your troops ready?" Emma asked.

"This is gonna be a piece of cake" Gunslinger grinned as his hand morphed into an odd looking four barreled gun.

"All right first we need to cut the security alarm," Emma told him. "Then we can stealthily reconnoiter the west side, make our way into the control room. From there we can get the information we need and deploy our troops in a timed careful manner."

BOOOM!

A huge explosion shook the ground. "Whoa! Look at that!" Bevatron pointed. The explosion had come from the factory. Alarms were sounding and a vicious firefight had broken out.

"Looks like somebody's started the party without us," Gunslinger said. He looked at Emma. "You were saying?"

"Fine, forget the plan! Just go in there and wreck the place! Hellions, you're with me" Emma suited up into her diamond form.

Soon they were in the thick of a violent melee. The Humantech employees were obviously FOH members. They were using firearms as well as some kind of prototype robots that were four feet tall had four legs and a laser on it's top and sides. However between the Night Pack, the Hellions and some mysterious figures in silver armor they were quickly overwhelmed.

This did not stop any of the attackers. The fighters in the silver armor kept blasting everyone around them, mutant or otherwise. The Night Pack retaliated. Emma directed her Hellions to a corner with plenty of cover so they could see what was going on. "This is crazy," Doug shouted. "Who else is fighting here?"

"It's not the X-Men that's for sure," Evan said. "They don't use lasers."

"Or wear armor like that!" Bevatron shout out his energy frying one attacker in silver running towards them. "Hey these dudes are dames!"

"It's the Bacchae" Emma shouted. "What the devil are they doing here?"

Emma concentrated her thoughts to send a message. Shouts from the Bacchae to stand down quickly resonated across the room. "I've sent a telepathic message to their leader" She explained. "I've ordered the Night Pack to stand down as well while we get this mess sorted out."

"What about the FOH?" Evan asked.

"Mostly out of the picture but there are a few skulking about, so don't let your guard down" Emma warned. "Especially in case the Bacchae decide to get greedy."

"Okay you said that the Bacchae weren't all mutants and they were our allies," Evan said.

"Some of them are mutants," Emma told them. "They work for the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. They are an elite crime unit made up of only women."

"Who's the Black Queen?" Evan asked.

"Man are you dumb," Beef grunted.

"You don't know either do you?" Evan looked at him. Beef turned away. "Yeah that's what I thought."

"The Hellfire Club elite is drawn into two different circles that rule" Emma explained. "They are all named for chess pieces. I am the White Queen for example and Shaw is the Black King."

"Well who's the White King and Black Queen?" Evan asked.

"You'll meet the Black Queen soon enough" Emma said. "As for the White King, well…Let's just say there's a bit of a power struggle over that role right now. I've been filling the vacuum so to speak."

"A vacuum you don't wish to be filled by anyone else," Empath grinned. "Hold on, one of 'em wants to talk."

A tall woman in sliver armor and pink and black hair strode in with her two lieutenants. "I am Celeste, field commander of this mission," She informed them. "We were not informed that you would be here White Queen."

"Nor I you" Emma said coolly. "Strange. I assume your mission is the same as ours"

"We were ordered to destroy this facility by her highness the Black Queen and to steal whatever data we could find," Celeste told her.

"Hmmm" Emma nodded. "Obviously this is a case of miscommunication. Is the control center secured?"

"Affirmative."

"Then I suggest the most reasonable course of action is for you and your lieutenants to accompany me" Emma said. "We will make equal copies of the data and share them."

"If it was anyone else but you White Queen I would simply take all the data for myself," Celeste said. "But since you are here and I have no orders from the Black Queen to prevent you from doing so that seems the most logical conclusion."

"A commendable idea" Emma nodded. "If you don't mind leading the way."

They followed them to the control room. They passed several FOH members being rounded up. "What are you gonna do with them?" Doug asked as they walked by.

"All FOH are to be terminated," Celeste spoke. "And the plant is to be destroyed in order to cover up our being here. The Black Queen was very insistent on that."

"But…" Doug began. Evan held up his hand to silence him.

"I see no problem with that" Emma said. "Just make sure none of them have any relevant information."

"My psychics are probing them as we speak" Celeste spoke. "But I doubt we'll find anything."

"You never know," Emma said.

"So what's the story between you and the Black Queen?" Evan asked as they walked along. "Are you enemies or what?"

"It's a complicated relationship," Emma sighed. "Actually sometimes we do get along."

They soon found themselves in the control center. Doug worked with the Bacchae on the information and making copies quickly. "Well there's more information here than I thought" Emma nodded as Doug handed her the information. "But what I really need to see is what is in the bio-lab."

"In a weapons factory?" Beef asked.

"Creed may be a lot of things, but not being resourceful isn't one of them" Emma said.

"This way" Celeste showed the Hellions and Emma. They followed her into a lab where two other Bacchae were.

"We found something," One told them. "It's not exactly mutant DNA, but it's not clearly human either. Probably altered human DNA."

"Altered humans?" Beef asked.

"Yeah you know?" Evan said. "Like Captain America, the Hulk…People like that."

"That's what we really need" Emma said. "Are you adverse to giving it to us?"

"No, since that was not our primary objective" Celeste motioned for her soldiers to prepare the samples for transport.

"How'd these jokers get samples like this in the first place?" Jetstream asked.

"More importantly what were they planning on using them for?" Evan frowned.

"Whatever they were planning we have their research" Emma said. "I'd say this was a serious setback."

An armored Bacchae psychic walked in with three FOH men walking obediently in chains behind her. Their eyes were vacant, a sign they had been placed under mind control. "Ah, I see we have found something" Celeste raised an eyebrow.

"These two have information that can be useful" The psychic told her. "And this one" She pointed to the handsome male. "May be a good offering for the Black Queen."

"Offering?" Doug asked.

"Boy, for someone so smart you sure are dumb" Roulette giggled.

"The Black Queen is infamous for her…Shall we say… **liaisons** with young handsome men," Tarot smirked.

"You mean…" Evan gulped.

"Nothing men haven't done to women over the centuries" Monet smirked.

A loud roar could be heard outside. "It seems the Night Pack are enjoying themselves" Emma said casually. "I'd better tell them to finish up and move out. We've waited too long as it is."

Evan tried not to look to long at the Night Pack's handiwork as they left the building. The Night Pack were gleefully showing off the spoils of war, watches and other items they had taken from the FOH now lying dead on the ground. Evan didn't exactly approve. Yes he had taken things from dead enemies, like a lot of Morlocks, but they rarely took such perverse joy in it. He didn't want to know what his aunt would think if she knew about this.

"That's what this is all about?" Doug asked. "To steal some stupid samples?"

"It's for a trade" Emma told him. "Come Hellions, we have a delivery to make."

A few hours later…

"Ah my dear Ms. Frost" The man with the white skin and blood red eyes welcomed them into his inner sanctum. "And your precious Hellions. Prompt as ever."

"Have I been anything else **but**, Sinister?" Emma asked.

"You have the samples? That was quick," Sinister grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "I did not expect them so soon."

"I am merely delivering what you requested," Emma told him. "Now for your part of the bargain…"

"Of course, I just need to get it from my lab. Wait here" He went through a large door and closed it shut.

"Who is this guy?" Doug asked. "He gives me the creeps."

"I'm with Cypher on this," Warpath shuddered. "Guy was looking at us like we were prime rib and he was starving."

_"I admit Mr. Sinister is well, unnerving"_ Emma told them via telepathy. _"But the Hellfire Club has need of his…research."_

A loud animal like scream could be heard in the back. "What kind of…" Evan began then stopped himself. Something told him that he didn't want to know.

"Here you are" Sinister walked in with a disk. "All the information I have gathered, including the newest techs on the Bio Pulse."

"The Bio Pulse?" Doug asked. "But isn't that…"

"What Stryker used against us, yes," Emma said. "Technically we built it first but these are the modifications Stryker made."

"I managed to get these through some contacts of mine," Sinister made a grin worthy of his name. "They should be most helpful."

"But why build it again?" Doug asked. "To kill more humans?"

"What's wrong with that?" Beef grunted.

"Please" Sinister waved his hand. "As if I would help you create something so…common. Any fool can create a weapon. What I will assist you with is nothing more than the genius of creation."

"You're going to do what Stryker did aren't you?" Evan asked. "Only activate X-genes on purpose."

"I would not recommend such measures right away" Sinister said. "Ideally I need a year's worth of observation and research before starting another jump in evolution."

"What kind of research are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"For the most part I have merely been observing the situation in New York," Sinister said. "Listening to the news, watching through personal spy equipment and police scans. Even getting blood samples and other data through contacts in the local hospitals. It's quite…informative. But soon I will need some DNA samples and see how stable they are."

"We've already given you samples on our new students affected by the change" Emma told him.

"And I appreciate that immensely, but I need less…Sheltered subjects" Sinister chose his words carefully. "I want to see the effects of mutant DNA in everyday life in the city. How the bodies react to stress and the daily grind."

"What's the point of that?" Bevatron asked.

"The point my dear boy is not only to see how the mutations progress, but to determine which cities would be the best candidates for the next phase," Sinister spoke as if he were speaking to a rather dull child. "For example, if mutations adapt well to a fast paced environment, the next city would be a similar one, such as Chicago. If a more leisurely pace is preferable then we'd select some small town and study the effects and so on. The point is to find the best locations for the most useful mutations. And we all know environment is a key factor in mutations sometimes."

"That might…take a while" Emma said carefully.

"There is no hurry," Sinister waved. "I have…other projects I am working on."

"I'll discuss the details later with you" Emma informed him. "Come Hellions."

"That guy is not playing with a full deck" Doug said as the Hellions left Sinister's hideout.

"I don't like him either" Emma sighed. "But he's a necessary evil."

"You realize this guy is talking about some kind of human experimentation, right?" Doug said. "I mean come on, why else would he need those samples?"

"You don't understand," Emma said patiently. "There's a bigger picture going on."

"Now you sound like Xavier," Evan frowned.

"Yeah I mean I may not mind pounding the X-Geeks but other mutants are another story" James frowned.

"Boys listen to me" Emma told them. "We need more people! In a few years we can triple the mutant population on earth and when the time is right…"

"But forcing people to evolve against their will? It's not right" Doug said. "It's no different than what Apocalypse was planning"

"No, Apocalypse was willing to slaughter innocent people" Emma put her hand on his shoulder. "Those without the X-gene won't be affected. All we are doing is giving people who should have the gift of being a mutant what they deserve to have! They would be mutants already if it wasn't for a fluke of nature."

"And what makes you so sure **we're** not a fluke of nature?" Doug asked.

"Forget that! What is that maniac planning to do and what kind of specimens is he looking for?" Evan said. "I joined this outfit to help mutantkind! Not have our own people subjected to experiments!"

"For once I'm with them," Beef said. "This stinks like Bevatron's sock drawer!"

"Hey," Bevatron shouted.

"Listen, Sinister promised us that his experimentation on mutants would be…Limited" Emma said.

"Oh I get it now" Monet said. "He's gonna use those DNA samples on flatscans and test them right?"

"Well…" Emma paused.

"Oh well I don't have a problem with that," Beef said.

"Well I do!" Doug said.

So did Evan and James. But neither of them dared to speak. James mostly because he wasn't sure what to do. Evan because he knew he had no other option.


	8. In Too Deep

**In Too Deep**

Callisto lifted up her head as the final scream pierced the tunnels. It was followed by a loud cry of a newborn. "About time," She smiled to herself.

She made her way to a more sheltered section of the tunnels, one that was actually created with steel and had a door. Annalee, a mutant telepath who was also the Morlock midwife came out. "It's a girl," She said proudly. "And judging by her lungs a very healthy one."

Several Morlocks curiously followed behind Callisto at a respectful distance. "It's a good thing we moved to our winter quarters in New York permanently after that fiasco in Bayville," Callisto remarked. "At least here Tommy would have some privacy."

"Privacy? Here?" Annalee snorted in amusement. "That's a word foreign among Morlocks."

"True," Callisto grinned. She went in. "Well how's our newest member of our tribe?"

Tommy lay there on the bed, disheveled and covered only by a blanket. Sunder was by her side. In her arms wrapped in a soft blanket was a small purple infant. "She's very tired," Sunder said.

"And so is her mother," Tommy made a weak grin. "I had no idea having a baby would be so hard."

"You think that was hard, it's nothing compared to raising it," Annalee grinned.

"Don't worry," Callisto told her. "The whole tribe will help you."

Of course several Morlocks were already ready to help. "She's so cute," Scaleface cooed. "Hey look at her arms." True enough, there were signs of small bone like scabs on her elbows and back.

"She's probably going to look like her…" Lucid began. A glare from Sunder cut him off.

"You don't have to tiptoe who her father is around me," Tommy said. "The important thing is she'll be with us and we can protect her. We're her family and that's all that matters. However…"

"Here it comes," Callisto sighed. "I think I can guess what you're going to ask."

"He has a right to know," Tommy said. "Even if only she exists."

"All right, I'll get Piper to send a pigeon or something," Callisto sighed. "Caliban can you find him"

"Of course Caliban can find him," Caliban responded. "Caliban can find practically any mutant he wants."

"What are you going to call her?" Callisto asked.

"I'm going to name her after my mother," Tommy said, gently stroking the infant's back. "Sarah…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Evan stared at the note in shock. He must have read it seventeen times in as many minutes. The enormity of the message rocked him to the core. Everything had changed now. True, he would probably never see her, let alone raise his daughter but still…

There was a knock on the door but Evan didn't notice it. "Hey Evan what's wrong?" Doug asked as he walked in.

"Huh? Oh sorry man, I didn't hear you," Evan hastily placed the note inside his pocket. "What's up?"

"Well I wanted to talk to you about some stuff," Doug said. "I mean lately I've been wondering if the Hellions are really where I belong and…"

Empath walked in. "We have a mission, come on. She wants us to meet in the lab across campus."

"Sorry Doug, this is gonna have to wait until later," Evan told him. "Let's go."

Evan walked along, not really paying much attention to the things Doug and Empath were saying. His eye caught a few students fooling around with skateboards and laughing. He just stopped and watched them.

"Earth to Spyke!" Empath shouted. "Geeze what is with you?"

"Just thinking about some stuff. I remember when the most important thing in my life was skateboarding" Evan said wistfully. "Nothing else mattered you know? Just the freedom of it all. Everything was so simple. I was just a kid looking for fun. But then…"

"Then what?" Empath asked. "You're acting a little weird."

"Sorry, I…got some news from home," Evan said. "Made me a little, you know, nostalgic. So what does Frost want to see us about?"

"New mission," Empath said. "It's really big."

And it was.

"How can you do this?" Doug asked. "This is insane!"

"It makes perfect sense," Emma said. "We need to get more materials for the Bio Pulse before Magneto can create it."

"So we're just gonna go steal the components from more companies? Can't we just purchase them legally?" Doug asked.

"That would take too much time," Emma said.

"The important thing is to keep the plans for the Bio Pulse out of Magneto's hands," Tarot said. "He'd use it too recklessly"

"Oh and you guys would use it responsibly?" Doug shouted. "I can't believe I'm hearing this!" He ran off.

"Doug..." Catseye shouted.

"Let him go," Evan said. "He just needs some time to think a bit."

So did Evan.

_I'm not crazy about this either but what choice do I have? _Evan thought. _I've been banished from the Morlocks and my daughter, to my aunt I'm as good as dead and the X-Men would never believe me. Not after what I've done. The Misfits would probably throw me in jail. And Magneto isn't even an option so…_

_I'm stuck here. And all I can do is make the best of it. _

If I can…

"Frost, report…"

"The Hellions are progressing much more efficiently now. Granted there is still resentment towards Daniels," Emma reported to the Inner Circle. "But they will follow him if need be. However…"

"Yes?"

"Both Daniels and Ramsey are having thoughts of…doubts. Daniels I'm not too worried about. I don't think he will leave us, but he has been thinking of his aunt, the Morlocks and the X-Men lately. I recommend giving him a bit more…incentive to stay with us."

"I think we all know what will keep Daniels happy," Sebastian Shaw waved his hand. "But what about Ramsey?"

"He's more of a problem than I anticipated," Emma admitted. "His conscience is stronger than I thought. I may have to…persuade him to see things our way. I don't want to be too rough on that boy. His mind is too valuable to be damaged."

"Still, we can't allow any defections," Shaw told her. "Do what has to be done. Send Daniels to me tomorrow. I think it's time that he gets a personal welcome to the Inner Circle."

"So soon?" Emma asked.

"Why not? I see great things in that boy?" Shaw grinned. "He could be a future King when the time comes. Not all of us can live forever, present exception my dear Black Queen."

"None taken," A figure purred from the shadows, but remained hidden.

"Yes it's time to step up Mr. Daniel's training," Shaw told her. "We'll see if he has what it takes to truly serve the Hellfire Club."


	9. Falling Into Hellfire

**Falling Into Hellfire**

"Why does the Inner Circle want to speak to me?" Evan asked Emma nervously as she led him down the hallway of the Inner Sanctum.

"They are impressed with your work with the Hellions," Emma said.

"I really haven't done that much," Evan said.

"You're too modest young man," Sebastian Shaw opened the door. "You've helped destroy two enemy bases, whipped the Hellions into shape, acquired several valuable bits of information for us…"

"Not to mention that bit with Spears and giving the FOH a serious kick in the groin," Harry Leland chuckled as Shaw motioned Evan in.

"This is Harry Leland, Black Bishop," Shaw introduced them. "He has the power to increase or decrease mass in anything, making them as heavy or as light as he wishes. And over here is Donald Pierce, our White Bishop."

Standing by the fireplace in traditional 18th century attire was a young man with flowing blond hair tied back in a ponytail. He was drinking wine in a crystal glass. Evan noticed that his arm was cybernetic. He noticed Evan staring at him. "I am a cyborg, not a mutant," Pierce explained. "I'm not exactly wild about so called normal humans myself."

"Uh, actually I was looking at what you're wearing," Evan pointed out. "What's with the getup? Is there a party going on or something?"

"Oh of course, how silly of me," Pierce said. "You are obviously not aware of the etiquette of dress of the Hellfire Elite. Then again…" He cast a disparaging eye on Evan's spikes. "Clothes don't really seem to be your thing, do they?"

"Enough Pierce," Shaw warned.

"Ignore him, boy," Leland scoffed. "We all do."

"Emma if you don't mind," Shaw said. "We'd like to have a little 'man' talk around here."

"Then why is Donald with you?" Emma asked as she left.

Pierce growled as Leland laughed. "She's got that right!"

"Impudent wench," Pierce snarled as he smashed the glass he was holding in his cybernetic hand.

"Pierce I expect you to pay for that glass. It is crystal you know," Shaw admonished him. "As well as the dry cleaning. But it's young Mr. Daniels we must turn our attention to. Tell me, how do you like the Massachusetts Academy?"

"Well, it's certainly different than Bayville that's for sure," Evan said honestly. "But I'm getting by."

"No need for false modesty boy," Leland huffed. "From what we've seen of your grades and your abilities you're doing very well. Have a drink." He poured him some champagne.

"Well…okay," Evan carefully drank it. He gasped a little, not used to the taste.

"It does take some getting used to doesn't it?" Shaw smiled. "But it will come. It will have to if you wish to move to our ranks."

"What?" Evan asked.

"You see Evan," Shaw said. "We're always looking for new talent. Not just in the field but in management as well. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll be one of us."

"If he can handle it," Pierce grunted.

"I'm sure Mr. Daniels here can handle whatever we require," Shaw grinned. "And in return, we can give him what he desires the most."

"What do you mean?" Evan asked.

"I've had Sinister study your particular case," Shaw said. "He thinks he may have found a way to keep your spikes under control."

"He can do that?" Evan asked.

"Apparently there is some special hormone in your body creates that activates your powers," Shaw said. "Don't ask me the technical terms because quite frankly medical terminology confuses me. As I was saying this hormone is overflowing in your body and your system has no idea how to turn it off like it used to."

"So what? You'll give me a pill or something to turn off my powers?" Evan asked.

"More like a shot to keep them under control, to stop this hormone from being continuously produced," Shaw said. "Think about it Evan, you'll be able to have your powers at your mercy again. To be able to walk down the street in broad daylight without people knowing again."

"To be able to wear a shirt again," Donald Pierce quipped.

"What do I have to do?" Evan asked.

"I need you to do two things," Shaw said. "First, find the traitor in our midst."

"I think we all know who the traitor is," Evan said. "No problem. And second?"

"I'm afraid Mr. Ramsey is becoming a bit…Well, problematic," Shaw said. "It would be such a shame to lose a useful ally. I need you to have a talk with him. Bring him around to the right side of things."

"I'm afraid that may be a problem," Emma walked in. "It seems young Mr. Ramsey is missing. More precisely, he took off."

"Doug? How?" Evan asked.

"He slipped away during the night and managed to override the security codes," Emma sighed. "We have to go after him and talk some sense into him."

"And if he doesn't want to come back?" Evan asked.

"Deal with him however you see fit," Shaw ordered. "We already have other translators and the code breaking program he created."

"You can't mean…" Emma started.

"Frost you know as well as I do the boy would be a serious liability if he fell into the wrong hands," Shaw told her.

"I know," Emma said. "This is my fault. I never should have let him into the Hellions."

"It wasn't exactly your decision alone my dear," Leland scoffed.

"Yeah Shaw you pressured her! Always going on about how talented that kid was!" Pierce snapped.

"Fine! Since I recommended the boy I take partial responsibility for this," Shaw grunted. "But the Hellions are **your** responsibility Frost! Do not fail us, either of you! The consequences would be very severe."

"What did he mean by that?" Evan asked as the two left the room.

"You don't want to know," Emma frowned.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I knew it," Beef grunted as he and Bevatron looked around a bus stop wearing civilian clothing. "I knew the little geek would pull something like this the minute they dumped him on us."

"Just stay focused," Evan told them over their communicators. "Monet sensed him somewhere around here but for some reason she's not getting a clear reading."

"He must be wearing a psychic deflector patch," Beef grunted. "What about Empath? We might be able to track his emotions."

"He's back with Ms. Frost working on something," Evan told him. "Just stay focused people!"

"I don't know why I'm stuck with you," Monet growled at Evan as they patrolled a less populated area of the nearby park, not far from the bus station. "I could cover ground a lot faster on my own."

"Stay here and do as you're told," Evan told her sharply. Monet needed to be held in check but that was not what bothered him. What bothered him were Frost's orders.

_"I don't want him killed Evan. But Shaw insists if you can't…" _

"Jetstream reporting in," His headphone clicked. "Nothing on the West Side of town."

"Are you sure?" Evan asked.

"We must have gone down every alley and scanned every block!" Jetstream grunted. "Still nothing!"

"Check again!" Evan said. "Our team has this side. "If you see any sign of him call the whole team."

"Face it, the guy's gone," Beef said. "He's…Wait a minute! THERE HE IS! COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE…" A loud scream could be heard as well as the discharge of electricity static.

"He's at the bus station! East side!" Evan shouted an order. "Come on!"

They ran to the station where several people were fleeing. "Looks like those two are operating with their usual stealth and cunning," Monet grunted. "What the…?"

Lying on the ground were Bevatron and Beef. Beef was writhing in pain. "What happened to you two?"

"The little geek wore some kind of weird rubber suit that absorbed my electricity," Bevatron snapped. "Then he sucker punched me."

"Yeah and when I went to grab him I got shocked," Beef moaned. "Ow…Ow.."

"He's done his homework on us, I'll give him that," Bevatron snorted.

"Yes and I'm going to give him a piece of my fist!" Monet flew off.

"Monet!" Evan shouted. "Bevatron! Get Beef out of here! He needs medical attention! Get the rest of the Hellions over here! Now!"

Evan raced after them. He managed to catch up to them in an abandoned warehouse filled with gas canisters. Monet held onto Doug. "Okay you little traitor! Now you get what's coming to you!" Monet hissed.

"Monet! NO!" Evan shouted. "We need him alive!"

"Oh come on Spyke, we all know that when they tell you to bring back someone 'dead or alive' it usually means dead!" Monet snapped.

"Killing Cypher won't guarantee people will think you're not giving secrets to Magneto!" Evan thought of a different tactic. "In fact that's what I'd do if I was trying to play double agent!"

"Double agent? Are you on something?" Monet asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Come on Monet," Evan walked towards her. "We all know you'd go to any lengths to get back at me. Even give Magneto the plans for the Bio Pulse!"

"What?" Monet shouted. "Why the hell would I do **that?**"

"To get back at us!" Doug shouted. "Empath told me all about it when he found hidden documents in your room!"

"That's a total lie!" Monet snapped. "In the first place, I **hate** Magneto. It was **his fault** that my family found out I was a mutant and cast me out!"

"I didn't know that," Evan said. "How'd he do that?"

"It's not something I like to talk about," Monet sighed. "Before mutants were exposed, he somehow found out about my powers and wanted me to join his Acolytes. I said no; I had everything I needed. I was rich and had a wealthy family and prestige. The next day he tricked me into revealing my powers in front of my family. They were not amused. Fortunately Miss Frost was in the area and came to my aid so I went with her instead of Magneto. He cost me everything!"

"I thought you still have money," Doug asked as she let him go.

"No…I…I lied about that," Monet sighed. "They cut me off without a dime. I get an allowance from Ms. Frost."

"Why did you lie about that? We would have understood," Evan said.

"No you wouldn't," Monet's voice tinged with anger. "It's become one of my life's greatest goals to make Magneto suffer for what he did to me."

"Take a number," Evan grunted. "The line starts with his kids and goes around the block, twice!"

"Anyway as for this ridiculous idea of me being a traitor, I have no clue what you are talking about!" Monet snapped.

"The papers about the Purist base, detailing the missing info on what they were building," Doug said. "I was told they were found in your room."

"WHAT?" Monet shouted. "WHO TOLD YOU THAT?"

"You really didn't know did you?" Evan put it together. "Somebody's trying to frame you!"

"ME?" Monet snapped. "Why?"

"Because that's what they **do **around here, that's why?" Doug told her. "I'm tired of all this backbiting and plotting! Things were so much simpler back on the Beta team! All I did was research!"

"And it was because of your research that we were able to do the things we did!" Monet told him. "Where do you think the original Bio Pulse originated from?"

"I had no idea," Doug staggered. "All I wanted to do was help people. Instead I helped make things worse."

"Doug, I never heard anything about those papers found in Monet's room. I just heard they were in the trash. Who told you that…Never mind I think I figured it out. If it's not Monet then the traitor has to be…"Evan began. "Go back to the others and help them. I'll take care of Cypher."

"But…" Monet began.

"Unless you want people to know about your **financial **situation I suggest you obey my orders," Evan growled. "Besides you do this and I'll help you deal with the person who framed you."

"Ten minutes…" Monet agreed and flew off.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Evan said.

"I don't want to fight you Evan," Doug said. "But I'm not going back."

"I know," Evan's eyes narrowed. "You don't belong with the Hellions, so I'm gonna have to do something about it."

Meanwhile the others caught up with Monet. "Well? Where is he?" Roulette asked.

"Spyke's handling him personally," Monet told them. "How's Beef?"

"What few brain cells he has are shaken up but he's okay," Tarot shrugged. "We left him with Catseye."

Just then the warehouse where Evan and Doug were exploded. "JEEZE!" Jetstream shouted as he saw it go up in flames.

"That's where…" Monet began when she saw Evan walk towards them.

"What the hell happened?" James' jaw dropped.

"Cypher's not coming back," Evan told them. "Come on, let's get out of here. We've got to hunt down **another** traitor!"

**Is Doug really dead? Did Evan kill him? Who is the traitor in the Hellions? Find out in the exciting conclusion! **


	10. Poisoned Chalice

**Poisoned Chalice**

"You lying son of a bitch," Evan snarled. "Did you really think I would be that stupid?"

Empath nursed his injured jaw where Evan had punched him and got up from the Hellion's lab floor. "The thought had occurred to me…"

"You've been playing me since day one," Evan got in his face. "Well now that's gonna change."

"Oh please, let's not get so over dramatic," Empath got right back in there. "I'm only doing what's best. You know Magneto and the Hellfire Club aren't exactly that different. If both have the Bio Pulse twice as many mutants can be evolved. Look what happened in New York with one accidental burst! There may be nearly a thousand new mutants now in that city alone!"

"Yeah but at least the Hellfire Club would wait a while before trying it out!" Evan shouted.

"What's to try out? We know it works! That's the trouble with you Spyke, you're so slow to motivate. I don't even know why someone as irresponsible as you is in charge!"

"You're jealous…" Evan's eyes narrowed. "You wanted to lead the Hellions didn't you? But when Monet got chosen and then me…"

"Who do you think gave you that little push so you could shoot those spikes of yours at Cyclops?" Empath told him. "Of course it's not your fault that blonde bimbo got in the way."

"Tabitha…"Evan felt himself shaking. "That was **you**?"

"Don't sell yourself short," Empath said. "All I did was give you the right motivation."

"You've had plenty of motivation yourself," Emma walked into the room with the other Hellions. "It all makes sense now. Other than Monet you were the only other one whose thoughts were closed to me. But I've always sensed ambition in you."

"But you chose **him** over me!" Empath growled.

"Spyke's our leader now," Tarot growled. "For good or ill he's in charge. If we can deal with it, you can."

"Oh he'll have to deal with more than that," Emma told her. "We all know how you're Magneto's little spy. Quite an enterprising little psychopath aren't you?"

"You tried to frame me you little creep," Monet snarled. "I'm gonna enjoy tearing you into pieces!"

"Sorry, but I have other…" Empath attempted to take something out of his jacket but his arm got pinned to the wall by Evan's spikes.

"You should really work on your reflexes," Evan grinned as he pinned the rest of Empath by his clothes.

"So do we beat him up now or do we wait until after fifth period?" Beef punched his fist into his open hand.

"I think Spyke has a better idea," Emma looked at Evan. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, he wants to work with Magneto so much, let's send him to him…" Evan got a great idea.

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"I gotta admit Spyke, you got style," Beef grinned as the Hellions observed the scene in the helicopter.

"Well Shaw did give us orders to take care of the traitor as best we saw fit," Monet grinned. "I say this fits quite nicely."

"Yeah killing him would have been too easy," James laughed as he took a picture. "And Frost couldn't wipe his mind anyway…"

"I think the spanking she gave him was much more entertaining," Roulette laughed.

"You would," Tarot said. "But this is the icing on the cake!"

In the mountains a bruised, beaten and very naked Empath was left on the ground. His hands were tied in front of him so that he could cover himself as best he could. On his back and shoulders were some scattered chicken feathers held there by crazy glue. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" He shouted.

"Uh, I think we just did," James grinned.

"Don't worry Empath," Evan said. "Magneto has a base about two miles north from here. We think. If I were you, I'd start jogging. Gets pretty cold at night which is…In about five minutes."

"Consider this your expulsion from the Massachusetts Academy," Emma said as the helicopter took off.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS DANIELS!" Empath shouted. "IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO!"

Three days later…

"You sure this is gonna work?" Evan asked.

"Of course it will work," The school's doctor said as he prepared the serum. "Sinister said it would."

"I'm glad he's not here giving it to me," Evan grunted.

"Take it easy Evan," Tarot squeezed his hand. "I'm right here."

"You might want to step back in case this doesn't work," Evan told her.

The doctor injected him. "Now this may take a moment and there may be some discomfort," He warned.

"Hey I think I can handle a little…Uggh!" Evan grunted as his spikes regressed into his body. Soon they dwindled down into him. The pain stopped. "Did it work?"

"See for yourself," Tarot pointed to a mirror.

Evan looked at his reflection. He was taller and more muscular than he expected to be. His hair color had faded with time and was now a very pale yellow and black and he looked older, but it was his face and body with no spikes in sight.

"I'm…Me again," Evan touched his face. "I can't believe it!"

"Try a spike on your arm," The doctor suggested. Evan did so then retracted it.

"I…I can control my powers again!" Evan cried out in joy. "I'm me again! Wahoo!" He picked up Tarot and whirled him around.

"Evan it's a miracle!" Tarot kissed him.

"You'll need to take a shot at least once a week," The doctor informed him.

"I'll take it!" Evan whooped.

"Well I see the procedure was a success," Emma walked in. "I'm happy for you Evan."

"Oh teach, I mean Ms. Frost thank you!" Evan said. "This…This is more than what I dreamed of! I feel like you gave me my life back!"

"Well thank Sinister for that actually," Emma told him. "But it's the least you deserve after what you've done for us. Of course you realize this means you can't get out of the dress code anymore."

"Hey at least I don't have to lug around that plate of armor!" Evan grinned.

"I'd like to speak to Evan in private may I?" Emma asked. Tarot and the Doctor left the room. "There's only one thing remaining," Emma frowned. "Where's Cypher?"

"He…Had a problem with our agenda," Evan told her. "Shaw told me to deal with him. I cornered him in a warehouse filled with gas, lit a fire spike at him and…Well you can guess the rest."

"No…" Emma's heart raced. "You didn't you…" She then read his thoughts. "I see. Well I suppose there really was no other choice was there? Considering the alternative."

"Shaw told me to deal with him however I saw fit," Evan said. "I thought it was the best way."

Some time later…

"Well, I take it everything went well?" Blackjack asked. He was in his private quarters.

"Perfectly," Empath grinned as he walked in. "Magneto welcomed me with open arms. It's funny, Frost was so sure I was **his** spy and Magneto was convinced that I believed in his cause. It never occurred to either of them that they were being used. Of course I would have liked to stay longer at the Academy than I would have liked…Not to mention **leaving** the way I did!"

"Don't worry my friend," Blackjack grinned. "That was merely a stepping stone. The information you obtained will make us all more powerful. In a few years, the three of us will be running the Inner Circle."

"Three?" Empath asked.

"Yes," Mastermind walked out of the shadows. "I'm tired of Magneto running my life. Being at his beck and call like some kind of lap dog."

"He'll get what he deserves," Blackjack grinned.

"And then we'll get what **we **deserve," Empath grinned. "And what want most is revenge on Spyke!"

"What about Legion?" Mastermind asked. "He worries me the most right now."

"Don't worry," Blackjack grinned. "Let's just say I've got him under control. I got him to keep the X-Men busy didn't I?"

"How did you do that?" Empath asked.

"Oh let's just say they were busy with a…family affair that became a power failure," Blackjack grinned.

It had been a hard week at the institute. But now things had finally settled down. There was a ring at the doorbell. Kitty answered it only to get a shock.

"Doug? What are **you **doing here?" Kitty asked.

"Hey Kitty," Doug smiled. His clothes were torn and he looked a little bruised. "I was wondering…Can I speak to Professor Xavier? I'd like to join the Institute."

**So what was the 'distraction' Blackjack provided to deal with the X-Men and the Misfits? Find out next exciting story! **


End file.
